Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken novel Chapter 179

When the demons were summoned on Rimuru's command,even the upper echelons of the Imperial army recognized the bizarreness of the situation.

Major General Xam'd was one of them.

As the demon Summoning Gate manifested,

ŒU- Unbelievable.... For the Summon Gate to be that huge....

He couldn't help but hear such things muttered by a subordinates Mage.

Energy analysis began immediately, and they finally understood the predicament they were in.

The demons that had been summoned, each and every one of them were demonic beings that surpassed the rank of Greater Demons.

ŒTh-That's just.... Just how much war potential does he have....

Words of trying not to face the reality before them start leaking out.

Gradim, who clearly heard those words, turned his attention onto Major General Xam'd.

There wasn't much point in hiding it. Xam'd had simply spoken the facts for what they were.

Which was, that an army of demons with the strength to overpower their own Imperial army had appeared.

Even if they outnumber them, there wasn't much that could be done to cover the difference in quality.

They would be slaughtered if they didn't try and do something about it.

Even if the brass, including himself, could survive, all the regular soldiers would get massacred.

Gradim didn't want to believe it, but Major General Xam'd wasn't the type of guy who joked around.

(Tsk. We underestimated him because it was only a Demon Lord....)

It was too late for regrets now.

Now was time to do whatever possible.

As the emperor was also there, they couldn't take any disgraceful actions.

Gradim made his decision, activated the teleportation magic circle, went to where his forces were standing by, and took direct command.

The members of the Beast Corps were the cream of the crop, hand picked and trained by Beast King Gradim himself.

It was a gathering of strong individuals, with rumors saying they are descendents of ancient heroes.

And their Demon Beasts partners, were said to be A- rank in terms of power.

Battle Chimeras: Demon Beasts which were born from selective breeding after DNA analysis. They were seen as a type of weapon, having combat oriented abilities.

And it was obvious that the Corps members who had tamed them, were also ranked above A- in terms of capability.

Their strength when battling together on land, were said to be second to none.

But currently they were above the sea, which put them at a disadvantage.

That was exactly why, the hastily returned Beast King Gradim issued one specific order.

ŒListen up, ladies!! From this point on, i will be issuing the Secret Command.

The analysis team has concluded that the demons are all above A rank in capability.

It is predicted that we will suffer massive losses if nothing is done.

Which is why, we shall oppose them with our last resort.

Permission to use Medical SkillŽBeast Fusionis hereby granted.

Make haste. The enemy isn't going to wait for us!!

The forbidden order was issued.

Medical SkillŽBeast Fusion, was a skill that was developed by the team responsible for the analysis of Demon Beast DNA.

This skill, fused the Demon Beast and it's handler together. (TN: duh)

Letting a human attain the power of a Demon Beast; a forbidden power.

The reason it was called a forbidden skill, was because it became impossible for the individual who activated it to cancel the effects.

The drug used for the skill, had to be surgically removed in a facility with the appropriate tools.

Through the fusion of the handler and his partner, a warrior that surpassed the original concept would be born.

The drug was distributed and kept on hand, so it was possible to activate whenever necessary. But, usage is prohibited without the Secret Command from the corps leader.

There was another reason why it was "secret".

Risk of death: 10%

Risk of compatibility failure and completely turning into a Demon Beast: 20%

Risk of losing control (applies for both Beastman and Demon Beast): 30%

Risk of side effects resulting from the fusion: 20%

There were many underlying problems.

There is only a 20% chance for "complete" success of the fusion. (TN: I don't like doing math but the percentages don't add up lol)

But like Gradim, there were corps members who successfully fused and completed the process.

These members consequently attained new powers, and became stronger.

These perfectly compatible individuals, made up less than 1% among the entire corps.

They were called Chimera Knights, and were the aides of Beast King Gradim.

The order that Gradim calmly issued, was akin to a death sentence for the Beast Corps troops.

If there were unable to attain power now, they will simply end up as fodder for the demons.

It was a cold, but pragmatic order.

And the troops swiftly followed it.

They had prior knowledge to the risks, and knew of the high mortality rate.

But because they had absolute faith in Beast King Gradim, they followed the order without hesitation.

The result: out if 30,000 members of the Demon Beast squad....

7,700 turned into berserk Demon Beasts, 5,800 into complete Demon Beasts.

4,500 turned into berserk Beastman, 7,400 into Demon Beast-man soldiers.

550 turned into Chimera Knights.

It resulted in a fairly large loss in numbers.

The ones who went berserk had already been let out, and were rampaging on the decks. An ejection type magic circle was prepared beforehand, to deal with those individuals.

That was the job of the Mages, who were standing by around the squad members. This was to prevent being attacked by their former comrades.

Those who were still sane and combat ready numbered 13,750, which was less than half of the squad.

The members who turned into Demon Beasts but were still conscious are also counted in, so the drop in numbers was fairly significant.

But Gradim nodded with satisfaction.

The number of Chimaera Knights born was higher than expected.

There was roughly 100 of them who were his aides already.

Through strict selection, only individuals with high chances of successfully fusing were chosen, but it was difficult to increase their numbers.

But because of the current emergency, it was fortunate that 450 Chimaera Knights of good quality were born.

(We can win with this!)

Beast King Gradim was confident, and began reforming the ranks to prepare for battle.

grind them to dust!

The Black Numbers released their restraints in elation as they received their orders.

And were about to head straight for the Airships that had evacuated to the ocean.

The 100 airships still in the air, were to be food for their masters.

The remaining 200 or so that had descended to the ocean were their own.

The subordinates of the 3 pillars (EN: note at the end) Testarossa, Ultima and Carrera numbered 600 in total. All of them were beings that easily surpassed Greater Demons.

They were all over A rank, beings who could rival high tier Majin (EN: note at the end).

They now eyed their pitiful prey, with their powers now unconstrained.

But then,

ŒWait!

All of their movements stopped, with that one word from Diablo.

Now their attention was on Diablo.

Diablo raised one of his hands, signalling to the demons to be at ease,

ŒKufufufufu. Do all of you understand?

The order from Rimuru-sama, is that none are allowed to die.

If even one of you were to die, it would be a sin so grave that even if us executives offered our heads to atone, it wouldn't nearly be enough.

His smile, instilled fear upon his underlings rather than it's original purpose.

And none refuted his words.

The demons quietly paid heed to Diablo's orders.

ŒFirst, Testarossa. Would you be so kind as to clean up the trash below us?

ŒOh, why not? That much is easy by myself.

ŒWait a sec! I wanna do that! I can do that much easily too, you know!?

Ultima barged in as Diablo was giving the order to Testarossa.

To that, with no displeasure, Diablo answers,

ŒKufufufufu. Of course it is possible for you too.

But, since those are floating down there undamaged, shouldn't we try and capture them?

All of those ships, I am thinking of offering them to Rimuru-sama.

Ultima, aren't you bad at controlling your power output?

For that, Testarossa is the one most suited for this job.

Unexpectedly, he explained his reasoning.