The Dragon was seething with rage, its jaws itching to swallow the tiny figure in front of it whole. But it couldn't. The chains binding it held fast, tightening around its massive body, rendering it unable to so much as lift a claw. And despite its limited brain capacity, some primal instinct screamed at it: If you even try to attack this creature… you'll die so completely, not even ashes will remain.
What utterly baffled it, though, was how the being before it—smaller than a single one of its scales—could radiate such terrifying power. It couldn't comprehend it. And that only made its fear worse.
"Hmmm… but this dragon is ugly. Veldora looks way better than him." Rimuru rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then raised his left hand.
"Gluttony."
A black hole swirled to life in his palm, twisting the surrounding space into a vortex. The Dragon was sucked in instantly, unable to resist in the slightest—not even a whimper of resistance.
"So useful." Rimuru glanced at his palm and sighed with admiration. "Honestly, the power boost this time has exceeded my expectations."
Then something occurred to him. "Oh… right. Weren't those guys treating this dragon like their ultimate trump card or something? Would this count as… interfering?" He thought about it for all of three seconds before waving it off. "Meh. Not my problem. I just accidentally ran into it, that's all. Alright, moving on."
As he thought of the villains' tragic fates, Rimuru gave them a solemn three-second moment of silence. Then he blinked away in a flash, off to check in on the others.
…
Back on the battlefield, the fighting had already ceased. Garp and the others had stopped moving entirely. Benimaru was calmly organizing the forces, overseeing the capture and processing of prisoners. Even the pirates were pitching in, helping out with various odd jobs.
With nothing left to do, most of the combatants had gathered in a circle with Garp and his group, chatting casually. To an outsider, the scene would have looked like a friendly gathering—no one would guess they'd been trying to kill each other not long ago. Plates of meat and mugs of alcohol were passed around. Even the captives were shooting the breeze with the enemy officers.
"Hahaha! Finally, the World Government is going down for good!" Garp roared with laughter as he downed another drink. Sengoku just stared at him, speechless.
"You are a Marine, you know. Can't you at least pretend to have a shred of professionalism?" Sengoku complained. He might've been happy about the World Government's collapse, but Garp was being too obvious about it—it was like he wanted people to know.
"Oh, come on. Don't act like you're not secretly delighted too. If anything, you're probably more thrilled than I am," Garp smirked and clapped Sengoku hard on the back, making him wince. "Let's just hope this leads to a more peaceful world, yeah?"
Sengoku was taken aback for a second. Then, letting out a long sigh, he raised his drink and nodded. "Yeah… let's hope this world finally knows peace." And with that, he finished his beer in one gulp.
"Geez, what's up with you today, Sengoku? You're so weak, it's like you haven't eaten in days," Whitebeard taunted from the side.
Sengoku rolled his eyes. "Do you not get that I don't want to fight anymore?! Can't you just pretend to go easy on me like everyone else? Do you have to go all-out like you're trying to kill me?!"
"Huh?" Whitebeard scratched his head sheepishly. "I, uh… didn't realize. Won't happen again."
"Oh, it won't happen again. Because next time, I'm kicking your ass—now get lost!"
Just then, a streak of blue light fell from the sky. Everyone instantly tensed, battle reflexes kicking in—only to collectively relax a moment later.
After all, who would feel threatened by a kid who barely reached a meter and a half?
"Uhh… what's going on here?" Rimuru asked blankly, pointing at the group.
"Isn't it obvious?" Garp replied with utter seriousness. "We're processing the prisoners, duh!"
(⊙▽⊙!) Wait, so this is what taking prisoners looks like?! Maybe I'm the one who's been doing it wrong all along...
"Long time no see, Rimuru," Whitebeard greeted with a grin. "So… have you finally decided to be my daughter?"
"Can we not talk about that? I'd still like to think we can be friends." Rimuru sighed. And also—why daughter?! Do I really look that much like a girl…? …Wait. Actually, I kinda do. Ugh.
"My Lord!!" a familiar voice cried. Ranga came bounding toward Rimuru at full speed, pouncing and licking him all over.
"Ranga! Stop licking me! Not the face—anything but the face! Please, I'm begging you!" So this is where the term 'licking dog' came from… except he's a wolf! What's wrong with this world?!
"My friend!"
"My comrade!"
"Lord Rimuru!"
The others quickly gathered around Rimuru, greeting him enthusiastically.
"Looks like Lord Rimuru's enjoying the attention," Diablo teased. In response, Ranga doubled down on the licking.
"Diablo!" Rimuru groaned. "Ugh, forget it. What's the situation? Any casualties?"
Benimaru, ever the professional, gave a crisp report. "Very few fatalities. 8,400 heavily injured. Around 30,000 lightly wounded. Overall, a solid victory."
"So modest, Benimaru-chan!" Rimuru beamed. "Seriously—great job."
"Cough… thank you for the praise," Benimaru said, cheeks slightly flushed. Yep, still the lovable tsundere. (^_^)
Just then, Guy approached. Rimuru gave Ranga a final pat and stood up. "Brother Guy, what happened with Imu?"
"Utterly~ annihilated~" Guy replied with a serene smile.
Rimuru gulped. That's probably the calmest tone I've ever heard someone use to describe total obliteration. Dark Emperor indeed…
"Oh right!" Rimuru suddenly remembered. "I actually caught something pretty interesting."
"Oh?" the group asked in unison, curious.
"Look, ta-dah!" Rimuru lifted his hand, and a transparent cube of crystal materialized in his palm. Inside it, a small silver dragon thrashed and roared in fury.
When one of the Gorosei, still barely alive and dangling from Veldora's hand, saw the creature, his eyes bulged in shock.
"No way! That's… that's the Uranus?! How could it be in your hands?! And why does it look like that?!"
"Well…" Rimuru rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "If I told you I accidentally caught it, would you believe me?"
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