Chapter 87
In that split second, Rimuru felt two incredibly intense gazes drill into the side of his head.
One belonged to Merem Solomon. The boy's bright blue eyes were blown wide, swirling with absolute shock and a desperate, frantic spark of hope.
The other belonged to the Black Princess. Altrouge's stare was complex, a volatile cocktail of irritation, disbelief, and sheer annoyance.
Feeling the weight of those stares, Rimuru mentally patted himself on the back. Checkmate.
Merem Solomon was a legendary Crimson Moon fanatic. His entire existence was anchored to his absolute devotion to the late Vampire King. Consequently, when Arcueid Brunestud perfectly inherited Crimson Moon's power and visage, Merem transferred all of that obsessive fanaticism directly onto her.
Rimuru had just dangled the ultimate bait.
Of course, using the beloved sister of your current boss as a bargaining chip was a profoundly dangerous game. Rimuru cast a sidelong glance at Altrouge. Her exquisite little face was puffed up in a petulant, adorable scowl.
Ah. She's already throwing a tantrum.
…
"When you say 'liberate' the White Princess..." Merem took a sharp, shuddering breath.
"I mean the Serpent, obviously," Rimuru chuckled, his tone light and conversational. "I can completely erase the snake. Just like I can erase your Demon Beasts."
Rimuru raised a hand, gesturing vaguely. "You look like you don't believe me."
"I have absolutely no reason to believe you." Merem took another half-step back, his guard raised to the absolute maximum. Yet, subconsciously, his white-knuckled grip on the scabbard loosened a fraction of an inch. "We are talking about the Serpent of Akasha..."
The Serpent of Akasha. Michael Roa Valdamjong. The "Extra" seat of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors. The Infinite Reincarnator.
Roa's ability was notoriously annoying. He prioritized the soul over the flesh, seeking 'eternity' through endless transmigration. But from Rimuru's perspective? Roa was running a knock-off Orochimaru build. Constantly overwriting host bodies without perfect soul compatibility inevitably led to a degradation of raw power. It was exactly why Roa hadn't been a true, apocalyptic threat for centuries.
As for killing him? There were countless esoteric, anti-soul mystic codes hidden across the globe. And honestly, even if Rimuru sat back and did absolutely nothing, some Japanese high schooler with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception was destined to permanently carve the bastard up in a few years anyway.
Rimuru had zero clue if Gluttony could actually consume a transmigrating conceptual soul like Roa. He was entirely talking out of his ass.
But it was a spectacular bluff.
"If you don't believe me, test it." Rimuru laughed, spreading his arms. "Summon one of your Beasts right now. Let's see if I can delete it from reality."
"You..."
Merem's youthful face scrunched up tightly. He fell into a suffocating, agonizing silence.
The standoff stretched. Just as Altrouge, who was still puffing her cheeks out in the background, was about to lose her temper, Merem finally lowered the scabbard.
"So," Merem whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "If I give you this scabbard... you will cure Arcueid?"
"Oh, no, no, no."
Rimuru shook his head, his tone suddenly dropping its playful edge.
"You completely misunderstood the transaction."
Merem froze.
"I told you, Merem. I am taking that scabbard at any cost," Rimuru stated, his voice ringing with absolute, icy authority. "If you try to walk away with it, you will have to sacrifice your Beasts just to slow down my pursuit. Do you not understand? That scabbard is your onlybargaining chip, and it is woefully insufficient to buy anything from me."
"If you want to walk out of this forest alive, you put the scabbard down."
Rimuru took a slow step forward, his golden eyes narrowing behind the Oni mask.
"But I'll add a little extra incentive. Think about it. Whether I help Arcueid... or whether I help Roa... it makes absolutely no difference to me."
"You…!" Merem's head snapped up, pure fury igniting in his eyes.
Rimuru raised his voice, ruthlessly crushing the boy's protest.
"Listen to me, Merem! I have the absolute certainty that I can pull Arcueid from her slumber. And I have the absolute certainty that I can erase Crimson Moon's heir from the face of the earth!"
"Drop the scabbard. Walk away. I will let you and your pets live. I will even grant you the honor of future cooperation."
Rimuru tilted his head, leaning into the villainous persona.
"Because only by surviving tonight will you have the chance to gather enough bargaining chips to come find me later... and beg me to save her."
Rimuru lowered his eyelids, his voice dropping to a terrifying, conspiratorial whisper. "Otherwise... the Dead Apostles only need one Princess. As a loyal knight, I serve Her Highness, Altrouge. The White Princess is an unnecessary threat to her throne..."
"Perhaps it would be best if I just eliminated her."
This bastard...
Merem's face contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. He ground his teeth, a volcanic fury threatening to boil over. Using the White Princess as leverage? It was despicable. It was like a traitorous minister holding a blade to the Emperor's throat to force a retreating army to surrender. It was the ultimate heresy.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to curse Rimuru to the deepest pits of hell.
But he couldn't.
Merem glanced at the hundreds of Dead Apostles surrounding the clearing. Then, he looked at Altrouge.
The Black Princess was staring daggers at him. Her crimson eyes were blazing, her aura heavy and suffocating, looking completely ready to rip his head off to vent her frustration.
Merem swallowed a bitter, choking lump of despair.
Logically, Arcueid Brunestud was an absolute powerhouse. She possessed Marble Phantasm. Her safety wasn't something a mere White Knight could threaten, nor was it something a lowly follower like Merem needed to worry about.
And yet...
Staring into those unblinking golden slits behind the mask, listening to the absolute, terrifying certainty in Rimuru's voice... and seeing the Black Princess standing silently behind him, exuding a lethal, menacing pressure...
Merem felt a chilling premonition. He can actually do it.
Sometimes, sheer presence and momentum defied logic. Rimuru controlled the entire flow of the encounter so perfectly that the bluff felt like inescapable reality.
Rimuru didn't say another word. He just let the green fog roll in, thick and suffocating. He stared at Merem, his silence screaming a single, absolute demand.
Make your choice, Merem.
"Haaa..."
Surrounded by the hungry stares of hundreds of vampires, Merem lowered his head and took a long, ragged breath. He looked back up at the eerie Oni mask.
"If I give you the scabbard... you truly won't pursue me?"
"Of course not, Merem. Because I know you need me." Rimuru's smile was audible in his voice. "You will inevitably come looking for me again. And I eagerly await the day we do business."
Merem's grip on the relic loosened. The fight completely drained out of him.
"...What exactly do you want from me?"
….
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