And finally, the Rock Elephant appeared…

The ground quaked as the Rock Elephant fell from the sky.

Its immense body suggested incredible weight, and it was four meters tall.

A body with hard, rock-like skin and the head of an elephant.

It was a distorted creature, and it now made to attack Bernaclad.

As if to show that it was the ruler of this island, and that outsiders could not do as they pleased.

“DDDDOOORROOOON!!”

The roar was loud, and usually had the ability to bind and overwhelm any opponents.

However…

It seemed like little more than a light breeze to Bernaclad.

He smirked knowingly. It was the moment that he was sure that he was the strongest of all.

“Ahahaha! Yes, yes! More. Entertain me even more! Your rage, your hatred. You will forget all of it when you see how much fun we are having! And then after it all, we will eat that tasty looking food over there!”

He was looking at us now. Bernaclad’s expression was full of evil glee as he slobbered.

What a creep.

“Now, hurry! You must all escape!!”

Irina urged us on.

But it was clear that no one would be able to escape.

Bernaclad–a demon who was exceptional enough to give himself a name.

Apparently, he started as an Arch Demon, but through eating a number of other demons, he had evolved into a Demon Lord.

And through acquiring a name, he was able to stay in this world and gain even more power.

He exceeded the old Demon Lords. A true monster.

And he was in the upper ranks among the Demon Lords—as strong as Moss, who was Duke in rank.

No, perhaps he was even stronger than Moss.

Humans had hurt his pride as a demon… In spite of being a spiritual life form, this demon had become mentally ill.

The result was this. Increased power through eating your brethren and evolving into a different being.

As Moss was only a clone, he would just become food for Bernaclad.

(Lord Rimuru. What should I do? Do you want me to go and give him a good punch?)

Came the ‘thought transmission’ from Laplace.

He must have been watching us and realized that the Rock Elephant was not going to win.

Hmm, what to do…

(Though, that might not be a bad thing…)

–But I wanted to save Magnus.

It was probably time to end this whole charade.

These past few days have been very entertaining.

I was satisfied. And so maybe it would be a good thing to end it here.

In that case, I might as well…

“Alright, I made my decision!”

I moved in front of the students and stopped just before passing the defense line.

The students and teachers were trying to decide whether to run away or not.

But now they all looked at me.

“Hey, what are you…”

Irina called out to me as if in panic or anger. But I just laughed.

If things continued like this, the Rock Elephant and everyone else would die. I could not let that happen.

But more than anything, this Bernaclad bastard was insolent enough to joke about eating my precious students.

He had to be properly punished for that. Or it wouldn’t feel right.

I was sympathetic about his mental issues, but it really had nothing to do with me.

(Moss. I’m going to deal with that demon. In the meantime, I want you to heal the monsters.)

(Certainly!)

Moss bowed and then disappeared.

(Laplace, Tear. Come over here.)

(As you wish!)

(Understood!)

Laplace and Tear immediately moved on my command.

They appeared before me in an instant and kneeled.

The students watched this in shock.

“Wh-what?!”

“Ah!? Aren’t those guys the abductors? Why are they with Master Satoru!?”

Shock and confusion spread among them.

The teachers were the quickest to understand. Old William took the lead as hr came up next to Laplace and kneeled.

I gave them a sidelong glance as I moved forward again.

This time, I took a step outside of the barrier.

“I will show you all a very special type of magic. A one-time magic of dreams.”

“Sa-Satoru…no, Master…what are you…”

“Come back, it is dangerous! You aren’t a student, and we’re grateful for your instructions during the past few days. But the rest is our duty as students…”

“Master Satoru, the magic you conceived is wonderful, but I still don’t think it is enough to beat a Demon Lord level monster!”

Mondo shouted.

Julius tried to stop me.

Marsha questioned whether it would work.

I raised my hand to silence them all and answered them.

“Yes, yes, be quiet. As your teacher, I am going to protect you all from that demon.”

I said as I took off the swirly glasses.

My hair, which had been dyed black now changed into a glimmering silver. And my eyes changed to gold.

This transformation was quite dramatic, and the students were all taken in by the sight.

And there were a few sharp ones who saw this along with the attitude of the teachers, and came to a realization… However, they didn’t seem quite brave enough to admit it…

“Could, could it be!?”

“…Yes…The Great Demon Lord…Rimuru…!?”

“N-no… It can’t be. Why would the Great Demon Lord be in a place like this?”

“But, Master… Master Satoru even cooked for us! There is no way…”

“Right? Why would the Great Demon Lord cook for us!?”

“All of you, enough with the jokes! If he really was the Great Demon Lord, would I or Julius still be alive!?”

“…That’s true?”

They argued like that, trying desperately to deny the conclusion they had almost reached.

Some of them rejected the reality while others sat weakly on the ground, too exhausted to think.

Irina also rejected this idea, and so I was currently able to fool them.

I still considered it only a matter of time before their suspicions turned into conviction…and I would be exposed… But I needed to get rid of the danger before that happened.

Bernaclad.

I didn’t harbor any hatred towards him, but his fate had been decided the moment he started talking about eating my students.

–Now, let me show the real power of a Demon Lord.

I smiled and took another step forward.