Was Yūto actually from the Kingdom of Falmuth?
Rimuru himself wasn't entirely sure. Still, he seed to recall Yūto ntioning before that he was technically still drifting—without a fixed place to call ho.
And honestly, given the situation at hand, who even cared whether Yūto belonged to Falmuth or not? What mattered was stopping the Pig Demon Lord. That was the top priority.
Originally, the most suitable people to search for Yūto would have been Shion and Shuna—after all, they already had direct connections with him. However, Shion was currently one of the main pillars of the battlefield, while Shuna's role as a wide-range support caster was equally indispensable.
More importantly, although both of them had grown significantly stronger, their mobility was still their biggest weakness.
In the end, Rimuru had no choice but to dispatch Sōei—the one who possessed both high combat ability and mastery over Shadow Movent—to head toward the Kingdom of Falmuth and seek Yūto's assistance.
Because unlike Shion and the others, Sōei couldn't pinpoint Yūto's exact location. At this point, all they could do was hope that Yūto would stay put for once and not wander off sowhere unpredictable.
Using his "Shadow Movent" ability, Sōei slipped effortlessly into the city of Maris. From the hushed conversations among the townspeople, he quickly learned that a coup had taken place in the Kingdom of Falmuth.
The greedy forr king had been driven out, and—coincidentally—Lord Yūto was currently in the city.
Sōei imdiately sensed that this turn of events was likely connected to Yūto in so way. Taking advantage of the cover of night, he infiltrated the royal palace.
The monsters guarding the palace exterior were far stronger than Sōei had anticipated, a testant to Falmuth's newly transford military strength. Still, with "Shadow Movent" combined with "Presence Concealnt", he slipped past layer after layer of defenses and entered the grand hall.
What Sōei didn't expect was that the mont he stepped inside—before he could even reveal himself upon spotting Yūto seated on the throne—a terrifying aura instantly locked onto him.
Under normal circumstances, with both concealnt skills active, Sōei had absolute confidence in his stealth. Even soone an entire tier stronger than him shouldn't have been able to detect his presence.
And yet now, he had been discovered the instant he entered.
Not only that—the aura emanating from the one who had locked onto him made it painfully clear: this opponent was extrely dangerous.
What followed was exactly the scene that had just unfolded before Yūto and the Spider Princess.
After hearing Sōei's explanation and learning the purpose of his visit, Yūto froze for a mont—then, to Sōei's visible delight, readily agreed to lend his aid.
Honestly, Yūto had thought things on his own side were already chaotic enough. He hadn't expected Rimuru to have gone so far as to assemble an entire allied force.
As expected of the protagonist, Yūto mused inwardly.
Part of his decision to help stemd from the fact that Rimuru genuinely suited his tastes. Besides, Shuna and Shion could be considered half his subordinates anyway.
The other reason was simple curiosity.
The so-called "Pig Demon Lord" and the "Moderate Harlequin Alliance" had thoroughly piqued his interest.
Originally, Yūto had planned to stabilize Falmuth first, then mobilize the kingdom's power to search for Nad Monsters for his own purposes.
But according to Sōei, the war now raging in the Jura Forest wasn't just about the Pig Demon Lord and his two hundred thousand pign. Nurous high-level Majin—similar to Gelmud—had also gathered there.
If they were subordinates of Demon Lord Clayman, and high-ranking ones at that, then surely a fair number of them were Nad Monsters.
On top of that, there was the road construction project he'd promised the nobles—a route that had to pass through the Jura Forest anyway.
Perfect timing, Yūto thought. I can handle everything in one trip.
"Lord Yūto," the Spider Princess—Kumo-hi—asked respectfully from behind him, bowing slightly,"Shall I notify the Falmuth forces to prepare and accompany you on the campaign?"
At those words, Sōei's usually impassive expression cracked with unmistakable excitent.
According to Rimuru's original plan, they'd only hoped to secure Yūto's personal assistance.
No one had expected that the man they'd parted with not long ago had quietly beco the king of an entire nation.
No matter how strong an individual was, personal combat power could never compare to the might of a country.
And judging by the aura Kumo-hi had released earlier—along with the monsters guarding the palace—Yūto's forces were anything but ordinary.
More reinforcents ant higher chances of victory, and Sōei was naturally pleased. Even with Yūto joining them to compensate for their lack of top-tier strength, they were still overwhelmingly outnumbered by the pign.
"Just notify Nekomata, Tearai-Oni, Kaginui-Onna, Kishigake-Kozō, and Samurai-Hyō," Yūto said calmly."The rest should stay behind to protect Falmuth.
"As for human soldiers—forget it. They're ordinary people, and the Jura Forest isn't exactly close. At their marching speed, by the ti they arrive, Rimuru and the others would already be dead."
Sōei's excitent cooled instantly.
He was right. The situation was dire. Even if they brought more support, it would be aningless if they couldn't arrive in ti.
Not everyone had "Shadow Movent" like he did. Anyone too slow would be a burden rather than help.
Realizing this, Sōei suddenly dropped to one knee before Yūto.
"Lord Yūto, your willingness to dispatch additional forces will surely move Lord Rimuru deeply.However, given the urgency of the situation, please allow to accompany you ahead imdiately.As for the rest, they can follow at their own pace."
Though politely phrased, his aning was clear: Don't let reinforcents slow us down.
Yūto gave a wry smile.
It was obvious that Sōei had just lumped the subordinates Yūto nad into the category of dead weight.
"Your demon energy's not even that impressive," Yūto said dryly,"yet your mouth's bigger than my athlete's foot.
"You think we'll slow you down? Fine. When we leave, go all out—your absolute fastest speed.If we can't keep up, I'll make sure to call you 'Sir' every ti we et from now on."
Before Yūto could say anything else, the ones Kumo-hi had summoned had already arrived—and just in ti to hear Sōei's arrogant remarks.
Naturally, they exploded.
They'd been thrilled when they heard they'd been personally chosen to accompany Lord Yūto on the campaign.
And now, the mont they stepped into the hall, so oni was dismissing them as baggage.
That good mood evaporated instantly.
To have their abilities questioned in front of their lord was nothing short of humiliation.
With no ti to waste, Yūto's group departed that very night.
Traveling at night was difficult for most—but for them, it was effortless.
After all, they were yokai.
Night was their domain. Darkness didn't hinder them—it invigorated them, causing their demonic energy to surge.
Their pace was astonishingly fast.
But along the way, Nekomata and the others ended up locking horns with Sōei.
Being looked down upon earlier clearly struck a nerve, and now they were determined not to fall behind.
Not only that—they turned the journey into a race, intent on humiliating Sōei on his own turf.
Nekomata, in her feline form, was blindingly fast by nature. Combined with her superior demonic energy, she left Sōei eating dust.
Kishigake-Kozō transford his body into flowing water, gliding across the terrain like liquid shadow, ignoring obstacles entirely. His speed rivaled Sōei's own.
Kaginui-Onna used her hair like grappling wires, swinging forward in pendulum motions. She wasn't as fast as the others, but she kept up just fine.
Trailing at the very back was Tearai-Oni, who had Samurai-Hyō tucked under one arm. He bulldozed forward in a display of brutal aesthetics—trees, boulders, anything in the way was smashed to pieces.
As for Samurai-Hyō… being a clay golem, his defense was superb.
His mobility, however… left sothing to be desired.
Thanks to their unspoken rivalry, a journey that had taken Sōei a full day on his way in was shortened by nearly half.
Toward the end, they were even burning demonic energy just to go faster.
"I don't even know what to say to you," Yūto sighed."Using demonic energy on sothing as trivial as traveling… At our original pace, we could've reached the Jura Forest within a day.
"And yet, before even setting foot on the battlefield, you've already burned through nearly thirty percent of your reserves.Do you really think that was wise?"
Unlike them, Yūto didn't need demonic energy to keep up. His own ability—Swift as the Wind—made it effortless.
Still, seeing how much weaker their auras had beco gave him a headache.
He understood pride.
But they were about to face an army of over two hundred thousand. Was this really the ti for reckless competition?
"Lord Yūto, I sincerely apologize," Sōei said, dropping to one knee."This outco was caused by my earlier disrespectful words.
"Your subordinates are truly exceptional. I retract my doubts and offer my apology."
Not only to Yūto—but to Nekomata and the others as well.
For soone as proud as Sōei, this was no small gesture.
Truthfully, he couldn't fathom how Yūto—who had been traveling alone not long ago—had managed to gather such a formidable group of powerful yokai in such a short ti.
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