Rimuru, standing, looked at everyone, who had skeptical eyes towards Clayman's lies. It seemed that from the beginning no one believed him. However, Rimuru still needed to prove himself innocent, for his reasons.
Looking at Clayman, Rimuru began, "Clayman, was it? You're a liar."
"What do you mean?" Clayman said, unfazed.
"Honestly, I have no interest in being a Demon Lord. The thing about Carrion-san deceiving me is a lie, and the Kingdom of Falmuth invaded us out of its own greed."
"Hah! And who would believe in such excuses?" Clayman declares, "One of my subordinates was killed!"
"Myulan is alive," Rimuru states confidently.
"I was wondering what he would say next..." Clayman responds with disappointment as if what Rimuru said was something ridiculous.
"Myulan, who you say told you everything, is in my care. I won't let you touch her, and any testimony you give will never convince anyone."
Further back in the room, Tiamat and Ramiris were together watching the scene ahead with great interest. With some snacks in their hands, they are watching as if it were a drama show. Beside them, Guy looked like he would fall asleep at any moment.
"Haha! Does your cowardice reach such a point?"
"Cowardice?" Rimuru asks, not understanding what he meant.
"You manipulated Myulan's body and put an evil spirit inside it, didn't you?"
Rimuru sighed, "Well, I didn't expect you to believe anything I said...So, look at this."
Rimuru raised his hand, and on top of the large table, a large translucent blue globe appeared. And to Clayman's surprise and shock, recorded events began to appear inside the blue globe.
"T-This can't be!"
Then, from the recording, two beings dressed as clowns appear.
"Clayman's forces have been annihilated! The plan failed! The losses suffered here are very great. I suppose that means we should have kept quiet, as we were told..."
As the recording continued, Rimuru was deep in thought. 'As we were told...It seems that there is someone behind Clayman.'
[Answer.]
[It can be assumed that all this is connected]
'So whoever worked behind the scenes to turn me against Hinata is also behind Clayman,' Rimuru concluded.
With a wave of his hand, Rimuru stops the recording and turns to Clayman with a smile.
"That's what's called 'proof', Clayman!"
In the background, Tiamat started clapping like a proud mother, and seeing this Rimuru couldn't help but blush. He felt like a kid who just finished his schoolwork presentation.
Clayman slams his hand on the table hard, and exclaims, "This is all nonsense! How dare you use magically fabricated images to bluff?! Don't waste our time with such cheap tricks, slime!"
Now it was Rimuru's turn to laugh.
"This isn't a bluff, asshole! Your army has been eliminated...And you're next."
At this point, Ramiris was holding Tiamat who had a large banner saying 'Rin-chan is the best' which appeared out of nowhere.
"Gentlemen! Don't let him fool you! This Slime is excellent at bluffs and tricks! He removed Veldora's seal and destroyed Falmuth's army, and he's just pretending that it's a demonstration of his strength!" Clayman then points at Rimuru, and continues, "It is absurd that a being as weak as him would declare himself a Demon Lord!"
"Hey, Clayman," a voice interrupts Clayman in the middle of his speech.
"You said that Rimuru conspired with Carrion to instigate Felmuth's kingdom. Assuming that, indeed, Veldora is back, why would he need such indirect measures?" Daggrull, the Giant Demon Lord, questioned.
"W-W-Well, it's because...V-Very well, I will explain," Clayman points again at Rimuru, "This low-level slime who doesn't understand anything was lucky enough to obtain the Demon Lord's Seed! So, in his arrogance, he sought to find the truth about this in the human world. And satisfying his selfishness, he instigated humans into a war, and used Veldora, who was sealed, to massacre them all!"
'How the hell can he think of so much nonsense in such a short amount of time? This is, in a way, a great talent...' Tiamat thought, impressed by Clayman.
"If we allow someone like him to go free, our reputation as Demon Lords will be tarnished! Purge! Yes! I think we need to purge him! What do you say?!" Clayman ended up slamming his hands on the table, sweating profusely as if he had used up most of his brain in a short space of time.
The table was silent for a few seconds until Rimuru sighed.
"I already said, show the proof. Everything you've said so far is what you want to happen. And I also said you won't convince anyone that way."
"Tch! Don't underestimate me with your authority borrowed from the Evil Dragon, slime! An insignificant being like you will never be a Demon Lord!"
Rimuru giggles, "Being a slime has nothing to do with the matter, and Veldora is my friend. I didn't come here to listen to your nonsense. Just admit it. There is a majin named Phobio who can testify that Charybdis was resurrected on your orders." Rimuru points to the recording globe above the table and continues, "The suggestion for this came from the clowns in the recording you just saw. Furthermore, one of his men actually turned into Charybdis and went out of control."
"This is concrete proof. If you think it's a bluff, I don't mind. You can believe that...Until you die." With that last statement, Rimuru absorbs the large table in front of him, startling Clayman.
"G-Gentlemans! Are we going to allow such verbal violence?! This is an insult to all of us Demon Lords!" Clayman exclaimed, addressing the other Demon Lords.
However, everyone didn't seem to care, either about the table or about Clayman. Guy and Deeno were sleeping, Tiamat and Ramiris were catching up, Milim was looking at Tiamat while biting her lip, suppressing her desire to jump at her mother, and the rest of the Demon Lords were just ignoring what was going on without care.
"Don't you agree that we should punish him?!"
BAM!
Rimuru kicks a chair that flies to Clayman's side and breaks as it hits the wall. The action was so quick that it caught Clayman completely off guard.
"You call it violence...You were trying to control my mind while you were talking, weren't you? It's a waste of time to try to use mental attacks against me. But is trying to control the mind through speech allowed in Walpurgis?" Rimuru questioned.
"No," Guy, who woke up, responded. "In the interest of impartiality for everyone here, it is only acceptable to use your own words to make accusations."
"B-But Guy! He insulted us! The Demon Lor-"
"Shut up!" Rimuru interrupts him and starts walking to the center of the room, "If you don't like me, then this problem is between you and me, right? I already said this, but I don't care if it's a Demon Lord. I just want to build a nation where I can enjoy my life. For this, the cooperation of humans is a necessity. That's why I decided to protect humans. Anyone who interferes with this, be it human, Demon Lord, or Holy Church, will be my enemy."
Rimuru then looks at Clayman, "Just like you, Clayman."
The room was silent for a full minute. Clayman couldn't think of anything to say in response to what Rimuru said.
"He's right, Clayman," Guy said. " If you are a Demon Lord, then defeat this Majin with your own strength." Guy then turns to Rimuru, "And you, do you intend to declare yourself a Demon Lord?"
"Yes," Rimuru nods. "I have already accepted my role as Leader of the Great Forest of Jura. In human eyes, I am already a Demon Lord."
"Very well, then. Luckily, you have witnesses here. If you can defeat Clayman under our eyes, we will allow you to identify as a Demon Lord."
'So if I defeat Clayman, everything will be resolved.'
Clayman starts to laugh, "My, my. My revulsion at getting my own hands dirty led to something even more problematic. This was really a mistake. I suppose too much scheming is the schemer's undoing...Time to work, Milim."
Milim, who was gnawing her fingers with envy of Ramiris who was happily chatting with Tiamat, stood straight, perfectly pretending that she was being controlled. And at the same time, all the people present looked at her.
Milim slowly stood up and faced Rimuru, who was startled.
"How long are you going to make others do the work for you, Clayman? And you're even involving Milim in this after hitting her earlier!"
Tiamat, who was happily chatting with Ramiris, froze upon hearing what Rimuru said. Her expression darkened, and her eyes faintly glowed red.
'That fucking clown...Dared to hit my daughter?'
Guy and Ramiris immediately noticed Tiamat's change, and they both had the same thought.
'Shit...She's angry'
In her rage, an immeasurable amount of power leaked from Tiamat's. The entire room, which was being protected by Guy, began to shake violently, making even Daggrull, known as The Earthquake, afraid. The large amount of Magicules made almost everyone kneel because of the great pressure exerted.
Even Rimuru wasn't excluded from it.
"T-Tia-san! Stop it!"
[Notice.]
[It is advisable to accept imminent death. Your chance of survival is 0%.]
"No shit Sherlock!"
In that instant, everyone finally realized what kind of terrifying existence the woman they were underestimating was. Among everyone present, the most scared one was Clayman, as her anger was largely directed at him.
This situation only lasted for a few seconds, however. Tiamat quickly calmed down. She was furious, but she couldn't kill Clayman right now because Guy would be mad at her. In that case, she just needed to wait a few more minutes.
The hall fell silent once again. But now, there was fear in the air. Excluding Ramiris, Deeno, and Guy, everyone else was sweaty from head to toe as they trembled. Clayman, the most affected, had his butt on the ground as he shook violently, and his expression was horrified.
Rimuru, who was also shaking, thought, 'What happened? Why did she get so angry out of nowhere?'
[Answer]
[The entity Tiamat seems to have great affection for Demon Lord Milim. In conclusion, when you said that Clayman hit Milim, it triggered her rage.]
'...So you're saying it's my fault?'
[Yes.]
"So what are you waiting for, Clayman?" Guy said as he saw the clown on the ground in horror.
Coming back to his senses, Clayman tries to get up, but his legs won't stop shaking as if they were springs. After a few minutes of trying to stand, he finally recovered enough.
"A-Ahem, of course, I'm ready! I'm also going to fight! You have no objections, right, Guy?" Clayman said.
"No problem. If Milim wants to help you of her own free will, I won't stop her...But that also applies to the other side." Guy said and then smiled sadistically at Clayman, who shivered. "That said, does anyone here want to help this slime?" He said to everyone present.
A few seconds passed, and no one raised their hand.
'This is bad...If it was just Clayman, there wouldn't be a problem, but fighting Milim is a big problem! No...I will save you, whatever the cost!'
It was then that Rimuru felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. It was Tiamat.
"I will...Help him," Tiamat said with a smile, but her anger-filled eyes told another story.
Everyone unconsciously gulped, especially Clayman.
Tiamat has already made up her mind, she will not calm down until she turns Clayman into a pulp. And no one will stop her.