The World's Ego

Trickery

Third Person POV

Drawing her katana, Rimuru charged forward and swung it as the blade clashed with the axe weapon Clayman carried on one of his extra arms. Upon clashing with him, she feels a small resonance and hummed under her breath.

"Interesting."

Her right wing blocks the hammer attack from another arm and she successfully slices off two of the extra arms on Clayman's left as he swung a sword his right arm carried. Rimuru lifts her katana and the blades clash and push against each other.

"Do you know what this is, Clayman?" Rimuru asks, holding up an orb in her hand, "This is a recording medium my companions had just sent me. They found this in the treasure room of your castle."

"Wha- That's ridiculous. My castle? My castle is guarded by the undead. There's no easy way to sneak in."

"Oh, them? They surrendered to our amazing Shrine Maiden Princess!"

"Don't think you can fool me. If you must insist, then show me the evidence!"

"Of course. It's all right here." Rimuru said, activating the orb, "Your schemes behind the scenes and the outcome of the war."

One recording was of Tear, who had reported to Clayman about tricking Phobio into becoming possessed by Charybdis. The second recording was Yamza swallowing the magical object, begging for Clayman's mercy. And the last recording was of Footman and Tear talking about the defeat of Clayman's army.

"So from what I heard in this recording... Who is that 'Lord'?" Rimuru asked

Instead of answering, Clayman lets out an angry cry as black threads gather around Rimuru and encase her.

"Fuhahaha... Fabricating lies with those fake recordings... Just the kind of slimy move I'd expect a slime to make. Rejoice! Once that cocoon hatches, you will become a puppet, bound by my orders!" Clayman laughs maniacally

Rimuru lets out a soft sigh, shrugging off the threads before finally punching Clayman, cracking his mask. As she sheathes her katana, Clayman stares at her in disbelief.

"This is ridiculous... Whether it's you, bitch... Or that Oni... Why doesn't it work?"

"I can't be controlled that easily. My Authority prevents that from happening." Rimuru blurts out, brushing off the last strands of thread from her clothes, "And I have the greatest firewall called Raphael-san! It was also ineffective against Shion-chan since she had <Perfect Memory>."

"No way... This isn't happening... Even an Ancient Demon Lord - It's an ultimate curse that even controlled Milim!"

A bright light made them look upwards and they noticed how Veldora had condensed his magicule to form a greatsword-like weapon.

"That's..."

"Might of An-Utu!"

With his swing, the attack hit Milim but she was safe due to her barrier. However, the attack had also hit the armor entity, rendering it immobile for Beretta to investigate.

"Uh..." Rimuru muttered, scratching her cheek

"That was nothing like Shamash's power. Just a replica attack to imitate it." Iris deadpanned after using her analysis

"I wonder how long he'd been practicing that... The shape and size of the attack are almost the same. The power is a little different though." Rimuru thinks while looking at her sworn friend having fun

"W-Who is that?! What is that... that incredible power!" Clayman gasped

"Hm? You didn't notice him when he appeared? That's Veldora. I told you, he's my friend." Rimuru reminded him, hands on her hip