"Violet, decompose the Gastrea."
"Preserve the bloodline essence. Use the rest as sacrifices for the summoning."
Rin's idea was the same as Rimuru's in the original. Use enough flesh and blood to summon powerful demons.
In the Cardinal World, monsters respond depending on the quantity and quality of the sacrifices.
Rimuru sacrificed 20,000 soldiers. Rin offered nearly 2 billion large-bodied Gastrea.
However, due to the difference between the two worlds.
The overall quality of those 20,000 soldiers far exceeded that of ordinary people.
Even so, 2 billion Gastrea, along with the higher-level individuals among them...
Rin felt it should at least be equivalent to hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
So Rin sacrificed flesh and blood and waited as his subordinate monsters got to work.
Until Ice Empress sent a thought message.
[Statistics complete. Everyone has entered the Void Ark.]
"Alright."
Rin returned to the Cardinal World, then lay flat on his bed. "Violet, begin the summoning."
[Sacrifices are ready.]
[Beginning summoning...]
As a massive amount of Gastrea flesh and blood was offered, a magic circle slowly took form in front of Rin.
The next moment, terrifying magical energy burst forth, filled with unimaginable malice.
Boom!!!
"Hmm, good magical energy. Looks like something strong showed up."
Judging by the scale of Rin's summoning, he should have been able to summon at least ten times more demons than Rimuru.
Theoretically, that was enough to summon 100 Lord-level demons.
However, once the magical energy fluctuations faded, only four figures appeared in front of Rin.
One male, three females.
The male had black hair and pitch-black eyes, dressed in a Western-style butler uniform. He was kneeling on one knee, showing respect to Rin, who had summoned him.
The three girls included a white-haired one in white clothes, a purple-haired one, and one with yellow hair.
Just like the black-haired youth, they were all half-kneeling, quietly awaiting orders.
"...Primordials."
Rin wasn't Rimuru. He wasn't clueless.
Their appearances, especially their distinct colors, made their identities obvious.
The Seven Primordial Demons. The oldest demons, each standing at the peak of all demonkind.
Rin was honestly surprised.
Primordials were all monstrous talents. Each one had potential equal to Ice Empress.
If he could keep them, Rin's strength would jump to another level entirely.
"But why are you acting so respectful to me?"
From what Rin knew, aside from Primordial Purple, who was somewhat approachable, the other three weren't easy to deal with.
Primordial White had a cruel nature and loved slaughter.
Primordial Yellow had a bad temper and would attack at the slightest disagreement.
Primordial Black, known as Diablo in the anime, was Rimuru's future number one loyalist.
His reason for following Rimuru was because he believed Rimuru was the temporal convergence point of Chloe. That's what had originally caught his attention.
"We should be meeting for the first time, right?"
Rin felt something was off. He wasn't in a hurry to awaken. That was inevitable.
What mattered now was having Violet fully prepare things so he could acquire as many Ultimate Skills as possible.
Ultimate Skills would decide his power in the Demon Lord realm.
So caution was more than justified.
"You carry the aura of that one."
Primordial Black spoke. "Is that a good enough reason?"
"Not really."
Rin shook his head. The Star King Dragon's bloodline was good, but he didn't want loyalty based on that alone.
Of course, Rin wasn't worried that the four Primordials would break the contract and attack him.
Even the Primordials wouldn't violate the terms of a summoning.
Especially not after Rin had sacrificed so much. Just commanding them to protect him until he completed his awakening was more than enough.
"You really are cautious..."
"But I don't dislike that. Rather, I'm fascinated by your very existence."
"...Huh?"
Rin was stunned by Primordial Black's bold words.
Demons didn't have strict gender concepts.
But just like their forms, they had clear self-awareness.
Well, except for Guy.
That one had both male and female forms and liked both genders.
"Please don't misunderstand. This fascination isn't something like a human romantic relationship."
"I'm simply drawn in by your charm..."
Primordial Black was telling the truth. Ever since Rin awakened as a Demon Lord Seed, especially after his Unique Skill Traveler evolved into Void Gate, he had begun to emit an irresistible aura.
An aura so enchanting that it instinctively pulled in demons.
It was like phototaxis, a light that demons couldn't help but move toward.
To Primordial Black, Rin was that light in the darkness. Something he naturally wanted to follow and stay close to.
"I don't really get it, but... fine. You can follow me from now on."
...
"Thank you for your grace!"
Primordial Black bowed his head even lower, speaking with even greater reverence.
"I will give my all to ensure your awakening proceeds without issue."
"Then... what about the rest of you?"
Rin looked at the other three Primordials.
"I heard a voice. She said she could give me what I wanted."
Primordial Purple, the weakest among the Seven Colors, enjoyed observing worlds and planting chaos to reap entertainment later.
She was like a trickster, constantly stirring up mischief.
But in Rin, she saw something new and full of potential.
If she followed him, she would never be bored again.
"Are you here because of my Void Ark?"
Rin didn't mind that his world-traveling ability had been exposed.
He was about to become a Demon Lord.
By then, in the Cardinal World, only beings on Guy's level could challenge him.
That didn't include Primordial Purple.
"It's just for fun. As someone who holds the key to endless worlds, I'll never be bored with you around."
"That really is..."
Primordial Purple's eyes sparkled. "So exciting!"
"...My turn?"
Primordial Yellow stepped up. "You're strong. I want to fight you."
Her blunt words nearly made Primordial Black lunge at her.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)