How to Create a War with Demon Lords

It took some time for Gazel to become cheerful again after we arrived at the palace. I knew he was coping with the fact that he was essentially being forced to serve under someone he considered to be a demon lord and he was dreading ever setting foot inside the forest, but I ignored him.

Fuze and Youm are still awestruck by the palace and I even see some of Youm's men looking at the bunny girls with lustful eyes. I had the bunny girls working as maids for today since they were very gentle and wouldn't assault them if they mistakenly say something negative about me, like the NPC maids will.

After a wonderful dinner consisting of roasted magic boar with gravy, mixed fresh vegetables grown in magicule enriched volcanic soul, whole-wheat honey bread, and special wines fermented in wood barrels created from the Yggdrasil world tree's branches and glazed with Apito's magicule enriched honey, Gazel finally relented.

In one month's time, I would go to Dwargon and we would sign the official treaty. Fuze said he would arrange a conference with the king of Blumund. He didn't say it, but it was implied that a similar deal to the one with Dwargon was what he wanted and I agreed. Blumund was substantially smaller than Dwargon in terms of size and had much easier work with the terrain than even the forest here in Jura, so we could probably finish construction within three months.

Considering it took three months to make Altair without the High Orc/ Ork Labour force and with just Golems, we could rebuild the entire small country in the same time with both. I speculated that we could rebuild the entire central region, bar Dwargon due to its mountainous terrain, in roughly two years. If we employed the other species, which we would, we could cut that to even less at one year.

...

I introduced Milim and Ramiris to Fuze and Gazel the next morning. Gazel wished to spar with Milim and was one-shot, much to his Pegasis Knights' dismay. Thankfully, the ring I gave Milim, "Second Chance" was enchanted with runic magic to allow anyone struck by her to survive with what was described as 1 HP. I also came up with the name and power of the ring myself. I definitely didn't steal the idea from Kingdom Hearts 2. Definitely not.

Around noon, I was hanging around the palace with Milim and Shuna when I heard a loud BOOM. At first, I thought it was just some of my subordinate's training, but Akasha reminded me of what it actually was.

[Master. That Phobio brat is here. It seems Benimaru dealt with him, but since you want to take on Frey, Carrion, and Clayman, it's probably best if you get on that.]

'Oh yeah. I almost forgot!' I thought while continuing to talk with Milim.

Back at one of my other bodies who was closer to the incident, I finally arrived at the small crater in the road where Phobio was lying in. Benimaru was nearby with a slightly steaming fist and I saw Rigurd on the ground holding his face.

Souei appeared next to me as I got closer.

"What happened?"

"It appears some subordinates of Demon Lord Carrion have come by. He insulted your name and struck Rigurd, so Benimaru knocked him out."

"I see," I said walking over to Rigurd.

He didn't have part of his face missing like in canon since he was significantly stronger, but it seems his skull was still slightly fractured. Thankfully, the 'Ring of Mortal Denial' that he had was already repairing the damage done to him but no doubt it still hurt.

"Rimuru-sama! It seems this Carrion has sent some inexperienced diplomats this time around." Benimaru said pointing with his still steaming fist towards Phobio.

"Indeed," I said as I looked to Phobio's entourage. They seemed unsure of what to do since they didn't expect this.

I looked over at them and immediately used [Celestial Haki] to knock them all out. I had been tweaking this power recently and now it works like Conquerors Haki from Once Piece but it guarantees that the target is the only one affected and has a 100% chance of making the opponent unconscious if they are below S-Ranked.

"Tie them up and bring them to the dungeon," I say to Souei who nods and does so.

"Is that wise? He's the subordinate of a Demon Lord?" Benimanru asks.

"Of course. I'll let them out when they cool off. They broke the law and assaulted one of my citizens. For a diplomat, that's like declaring war, so I'll take it. Just in case, begin preparing for a possible war with him."

"Yes Sir!" Benimaru said as he bowed and flickered off with [Spacial Motion].

...

After a few hours, I told Milim and Ramiris that Carrion's subordinates had come and assaulted mine. I told them that I would deal with him and they both nodded and agreed.

The Demon Lords all had a rule among each other that they had to defend their own titles from attackers if they wanted to be recognized by the council. Since Ramiris is my partner and Milim is my friend, they said they wouldn't interfere and would block any attempts by Carrion to call a Walpurgus to defend himself.

So long as I didn't borrow Milim's or Ramiris' power, I would be fine. I even stopped Milim from declaring her protection over this town as she did in canon to stop me from fighting all the Demon Lords at once. I wanted the next Walpurges to convene when both Carrion and Frey would resign and I would take Clayman's place. I didn't need to get into conflict with most of the demon lords anyways to accomplish my dreams.

Dino and Dagruel didn't have territories, Luminus would probably send Hinata and her other Saint's Church Warriors to crush me and give me justification to invade her lands. Milim would basically let me do what I wanted with her domain since she knows I would make it better and she wasn't all that interested in governance anyway. Guy's Ice continent didn't have anyone living there, so I could exclude it from my conquests and Leon Cromwell's island nation of El Dorado couldn't survive without resources from the mainland, so I will 'invade' it using soft power rather than military force.

(A/N: Soft power, for those who don't know, is the economic and cultural influence one country has over another. For an example, just look at the modern world. Most of the Western world and even some Eastern countries, like Japan, Taiwan, etc is ruled by the US's soft power which includes everything from material goods created by US-owned companies, like Iphones, Hollywood movies, and Twitter, to McDonald's. Even some cultural concepts such as Universal Sufferage and the ideas of Free(ish) Speech could be said to be 'American' ideals, even if they aren't.)

Of course, I was going to let Phobio and his entourage go. Demiurge has already contacted me with information that Footman and Tear have set out to recruit a body for Charybdis. I'll use that as further justification for war against Euranazia.

The best part of this plan is that, because of Carrion's way of ruling, in which the strong get to make the rules, when I take over after defeating Carrion, his nation won't even rebel, since it's just a stronger person making the rules now compared to previously.

It really is a shame though. Carrion seems like a nice enough guy, so maybe I'll still have him being the governor of the Eurazania province when I win, but that won't be for a while.

I made my way into the dungeon of the palace and was met with the scorned look of Phobio and a look of fear from his other subordinates.

"You! How dare you keep me, Phobio of the Three Beastkeepers in this dungeon! Let me go at once!"

I locked my face with a look of disgust and slight pity with Akasha to keep myself from grinning evilly. I had to put on a show after all.

"You there. Phobio was it? Do you know what your actions have just done? They have caused an international incident that, if I wasn't being considerate to Milim and Ramiris' positions here, would have led to war with Carrion. Do you understand that?"

"Carrion-sama would destroy you anyway! We aren't afraid of you!" Phobio said, putting up a front.

I released a tiny fraction of my Aura along with my [Celestial Haki]. The pressure they were feeling was so intense that the others fell onto the floor and couldn't move. They even had trouble breathing, but to their credit, they didn't pass out. Phobio, though, somehow, through sheer willpower, remained standing, though he did almost stumble a few times, his eyes never lost their fire.

I was greatly surprised by Phobio's spirit, so I decided to use it as an excuse to set up his meeting with Footman and Tear.

"I like that look in your eye, Phobio-kun. Your spirit is impressive. People far stronger than you would crumble beneath this much of my aura. Just this once, I shall let you and your party leave this forest alive and with all of your limbs, however, don't mistake my mercy for weakness. If you ever set foot here again, I won't hold back." I said as I waved my arm and passed a {Gate} over them, dropping them nearby to Footman's searching location.

"Ah! I forgot to tell him my name!" I said to no one in particular.

While Phobio was busy being tricked by Footman, I called for Treyni and Treya. I told them about Clayman's plot to unleash Charybdis and that they should allow it.

At first, they were angry and skeptical, but I explained that I would finally deal with Charybdis once and for all, so they didn't have to worry. I also had Ramiris explain that they were forbidden to take action against Charybdis or Carrion's forces since there was a nearly 100% chance of war with them. I neglected to tell them about Footman being our spy because they would tell Ramiris and she has a big mouth.

...

A few days later, I feel the huge amounts of rampant energy closing in on Altair. At first, I was a little worried, since, without Phobio's grudge against Milim, it was possible he wouldn't subconsciously move Charybdis towards us and he would cause chaos in the Central Region. Fortunately, his humiliation he suffered in Altair was enough to get the desired effect.

I called Fuze and Gazel and told them about the attack. At first, Gazel wanted to mobilize the Pegasis Knights, but I told him just to send observers. Fuze also sent a few observers. The court mage and head general along with a few experts in magic were sent.

Milim wanted to fight it but I told her to wait. She was slightly confused with what I meant but agreed. Ramiris also sent Treyni and Treya to watch over the fight while she stayed near the World Tree to protect it from any stray shots. She would watch through a mirror of remote viewing, so it wasn't a big deal.

When everyone gathered for what was originally an epic confrontation, I immediately used [Vulcan] and fired a bolt of [Blue Flames] at it. The explosion immediately destroyed all the Megalodons and severely injured Charybdis.

"""EHHHHH!?!?!?!""" I heard from all the observers.

Charybdis may be an S-Ranked threat in terms of power, but since it's mindless, it was correctly labeled as Special A Ranked. It had very few resistances, relying instead on [Ultraspeed Regeneration], and was quite slow due to its size. Although the [Magic Jamming] effect caused a bit of an issue, Akasha was able to calculate how much firepower was needed to get the required result.

As we watched Charybdis's charred body crash to the forest floor, I flew over and consumed it with [Beelzebuth]. In all honesty, OG Rimuru could have probably consumed it with [Gluttony] if he wanted, though it would've been a bit difficult due to its size.

After that, I spit out a heavily injured Phobio in front of everyone. Because it only took a few minutes to complete the battle, Carrion wouldn't have had the time to teleport here yet. I even used Akasha to simulate a longer, more grueling battle between me and Charybdis for Clayman's Orb of Viewing.

Seriously, that guy thinks he's smarter than he really is. He didn't even hide the traces of magical power he used with the orb to make it undetectable. If OG Rimuru was paying attention, he would have noticed Clayman spying and would've been able to defend against his plots much better.

Obviously, I threw Phobio back in the dungeon and begin repairing the damage. While this was going on, I was analyzing Charybdis using [Beelzebuth]. I finally found and broke down its core and created a new magic with [Solomon]. Now I have a new Super Tier Spell. I could use {Spirit Summoning: Charybdis} against Frey when the time came since he was the ultimate nemesis of the harpies. [Magic Jamming] made it difficult for them to fly like they normally would, so fighting him in the air would be a nightmare.

Strangely, Carrion never appeared before me that day, though we detected him and the other Beast Keepers break into the dungeon and rescue him. They even killed a few of the guards stealthily while breaking in. Thankfully, I saved their souls with [Samsara], so I just revived them later. I recorded the whole event with an orb of viewing and I was finally happy with the amount of evidence I could use against Carrion for war.

...

The next morning, rumors spread throughout Tempest about Carrion's deeds, courtesy of my Kijin Spy network and the few Dragonewts who followed that path. I then released the video of Carrion's night raid and explained the noble sacrifices of the ones who died to the people in a speech. Soon there was outrage and my people were ready for conflict.

I called a recruitment drive for the military and announced the opening of hostilities with Carrion the next day. Of the close to 45,000,000 monsters in Jura, 12,000,000 volunteered, but only 500,000 were selected.

I was very surprised by this and split the 500,000 into armies of 100,000 each. Each Army was given a different purpose.

The First Army, which was made mostly of Kijin, Trolls, Hobgoblins, and Gremlins was given the task of fortifying the southern borders. It was under the direct command of Demiurge, who had briefly returned to Tempest after nearly conquering the Forest of Tob. He brought the 'Wise King of the Forest' to me when I asked and I named her Hamsuke. Strangely enough, she evolved but stayed almost identical in terms of appearance. Her new race is Grand Seasonal Hamster.

I swear I heard Akasha trying to hide her laugh after her evolution, making me think she had something to do with it. Unfortunately, I would never know, but what I do know is that she is S-Ranked and could give most Dragons a run for their money.

The Second Army is made up of Kijin, High Orcs, Orks, Minotaurs, Centaurs, War Golems, and Trolls. They will be the main offensive unit for my country. This unit is under the command of Benimaru. The First army also had Artoria leading the Wolf Riders with Fenrir, Ranga, Tenebris, and Fluer all leading their packs as a special fast attack unit comparable to heavy armor like tanks of the modern world.

I also gave him a detachment of the Third Army, which was made up of Solely Dragonewts who served as the airforce currently. Of course, it was under Gabiru, who insisted that he fight alongside Benimaru against the Three Beastkeepers.

He wasn't hit by Milim in this timeline, so it's possible he still thinks he is more powerful than he actually is, but it's fine for now so I accepted his request but sent Mordred and Scáthach to save his hide when he inevitably bites off more than he can chew.

The Fourth Army is made up of Gremlins, High Orcs, Orks, Hakutaku, and Golems. This one was our 'civil engineering' army, which would construct infrastructure like forts, roads, and other things in the areas that my Second Army blazes over. It was lead by Geld.

The Fifth and Final Army was made up of every species and was a jack-of-all-trades-style army. Shiroe, who also recalled, took command of this army temporarily from the back while Esdeath leads from the front. He would use their incredible flexibility to fill whatever positions needed during the war.

And just like that, in less than a week, Tempest was mobilized. The ability of Akasha and Albedo to effectively organize so many people so quickly fascinated me. Albedo even received the Unique Skill [Administrator] while overworking herself.

Tomorrow, my vassal, who was just one of my bodies using evolution and metamorphosis magic to disguise himself, would arrive at Carrion's castle with the evidence and a copy of the viewing orb's video, giving undeniable proof why I was taking this aggressive stance.

It was very common to 'kill the messenger' in this world, so practically all foreign nations used powerful messengers who could at least defend themselves enough to flee when declaring war. That was why I sealed this clone's magicules to be at C+ Rank, so Carrion would let his guard down a little, thinking I was underestimating him.

This was going to be Tempest's first major foreign war and it would be both a shock to the world when it happened as well as spreading fear and chaos in the surrounding regions when we won in a few days. As an added bonus, Blumund's and Dwargon's citizens would be much more ok with the peaceful transfer of power when they heard the news, so the war served a double purpose.

I grinned maniacally to myself as I watched my armies march off. Little did I know it, but this action would lead to massive and unforeseen consequences down the line that Akasha purposefully wouldn't tell me about because she thought it would be fun.

This, kids, is why you never let your Intelligence Core gain sentience!