Chapter Text
The world-eater was a terrifying thing to behold.
“Jörmungandr,” Guy said it was called; a name that Rimuru recognized from his life on earth. Like many of the things he had once disregarded as fantasy, the Midgard Serpent existed—and it was eating holes through the Cardinal World.
These pits, or tunnels, or worm-caves, or whatever the local names people used to describe them were massive in size—able to swallow entire cities—and they dove into the earth at various angles of entry. Like chewing through an apple, Jörmungandr was slowly destroying their home day by day.
“It’s been a long time since that thing’s had physical form,” Guy told them at an emergency Walpurgis, called right after the capital of Englesia had been devoured in the serpent’s debut. “Veldanava destroyed it, and it hadn’t been seen since until now.”
Of course, that wasn’t strictly true; the primordial demons had seen Jörmungandr in the spirit world. The snake was the first demon in a sense that even surpassed the eldest primordial, “Lord of Darkness” Guy Crimson. In a time before Star-King Veldanava had laid the foundation of the Cardinal World, Guy broke off from a great spirit of darkness: the world-eater.
Soon after Guy, then known as Primordial Red, appeared the six other colors that would go on to found the demon race. Like their origin, they were always hungry and satisfied their appetites by fighting and consuming the other inhabitants of the spiritual realm.
“I remember that day.” Unexpected, but perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Ramiris who spoke up. “The Cardinal World was very young then, and I was just coming into my powers as Spirit Queen. I was told to protect the world and its inhabitants while Veldanava defeated Jörmungandr.”
“Yes, I had nearly forgotten,” Diablo interjected from Rimuru’s side. “We aided Veldanava’s mission; that was the first time I remember the primordials doing anything other than bicker.” He seemed to recall the scene fondly, a smile on his face.
Ice Dragon Velzard, standing at Guy’s side, nodded. “Velgrynd and I participated,” she said. “We were young, and he was too worried we would get devoured; but we fought regardless.”
“Jörmungandr is impossible for us to beat in its true form,” Guy told them. “Only Veldanava ever succeeded; and clearly, it wasn’t permanent—but until it gains enough strength to fully manifest, we have a chance.”
“So, what I’m hearing,” Rimuru said, “is we need to gather enough power to punch this thing back into the spirit realm before it gets too strong, and our world reaches the point of destabilizing.”
“Exactly,” Guy pointed in his direction. “I know none of you would consider it, but there’s no running from this. Either we stop it here, or it swallows the universe.”
Plans were made and quickly executed. Rimuru’s domain of Tempest in the Great Forest of Jura, Luminous Valentine’s holy empire, Leon Cromwell’s continent of El Dorado, Guy Crimson’s frozen continent full of demons, and every other mortal and immortal faction in the world came together to stop the world-eating serpent and prevent the end of the universe.
The world serpent’s power was immense to the point where merely destroying its body was likely to deplete the fighting ability of each member of the Octagram. They would be out for a good while—and there was no telling how quickly the Midgard Serpent would be able to reform. They may strike the critical blow, only to be devoured helplessly later. Not to mention, such a battle would raze the face of the world—they could win, at the cost of wiping out all life on the planet.
More ideas were needed.
It was possible to destroy Jörmungandr’s body in one blow and spare the world devastating scars, but it required a massive spell using every inch of the power wielded by the Octagram, the champions and heroes of the world. Such immense power could never be fired instantly, even if every member contributing possessed Cast-Cancel.
That led to the problem of location; they had to destroy Jörmungandr’s body but couldn’t do so unless it stood still long enough for them to shoot. With the way the serpent was boring ravenously through the world, cities and fields and mountains disappearing daily, they were never going to catch it off-guard—which meant they would have to hold it in place.
The question then was who in the world would, or could, do it. Not to mention, if they succeeded, they still didn’t know the serpent’s full capabilities; if it regained strength in the spirit world and reappeared too soon, their efforts would be for naught.
What the world needed was a way to destroy Jörmungandr and keep it out at least until the most powerful players were back to full strength.
So, they found one.
It was another spell, concocted by the combined efforts of Rimuru and Veldora. Its purpose was simple: seal off the Cardinal World from any form of dimensional travel for twenty thousand years. This meant demon summoning, spirit summoning, and the appearance of otherworlders would be impossible; but a barrier with any holes was sure to be broken by the serpent on the other side.
There was also another drawback: combined with the efforts to destroy Jörmungandr’s body, the magic drain would place the casters in a ten-thousand-year dormancy.
For this to work, they would need to plan ahead.
The Sealed Cave was a surprisingly little-known area in Tempest, despite its pivotal role in the country’s history. It was the prison of the Storm Dragon Veldora Tempest, and the birthplace of his sworn brother: Demon Lord Rimuru Tempest, the monster nation’s ruler.
Currently, they used the upper levels of the Sealed Cave to stable Tempest’s wyverns; but the lower caves, which were guarded to protect the wyverns and stable monsters, were as wild as the day Rimuru was born in them. Full of high-level monsters, rare resources, and magic, they were plumbed occasionally to hunt magic beasts but, now that Tempest had stable sources of magisteel and hipokute herb, were otherwise left untouched.
In the bottom of this cave Rimuru made a little bunker for himself; nothing fancy, just a smooth floor, some wall decoration, and a dias with a complicated magic circle carved into it. Sitting in the circle’s center in slime form, he sent out a thought communication to the others, sitting on circles much like this one all over the world.
You guys ready? He asked.
KWA-HAHAHAHA! Veldora’s voice boomed through his mind, obnoxiously loud even when the dragon wasn’t using sound to speak. Just say the word! He roared.
Rimuru was still apprehensive about Veldora’s part in all this—his job was to catch Jörmungandr’s attention and lead it to where Scorch Dragon Velgrynd and Rimuru’s Black Numbers were waiting to ambush. After that, it was their job to battle the world serpent until the others had cast the spell; banishing Jörmungandr, the Scorch Dragon, and the demons along with it.
“I have no intention of staying in a world where I cannot reach my beloved Rudra,” Velgrynd had said, referring to her mortal love who had passed a mere year before. “If this world is to be sealed off for twenty thousand years, I will leave it and search the universe for his soul until we can return again.”
“Ku-huhuhuhuhu,” Diablo had laughed when Rimuru voiced his concerns. “We are all old demons,” he said. “We’ve dealt with this snake’s tricks before.”
“Yes,” Ultima, the Primordial Purple, added. “Veldora has promised to protect you, my lord,” she said, “and we trust him to do so. We look forward to serving you again in twenty thousand years.”
“A demon’s greatest goal is to be of use to her master,” Carrera, Primordial Yellow, said. “For us to serve you in this way, it is the highest honor.”
“Lady Velgrynd has already volunteered to take us to a safe place once we’re on the other side,” Primordial White Testarossa said with a sly bow. “You need not worry for our safety.”
Rimuru’s Black Numbers, Guy Crimson’s demons, and Velgrynd were the only ones who would not perish immediately upon being ejected from the world; so, they were chosen to pin Jörmungandr in place long enough to cast the spell.
Guy himself was needed to help power the magic they had set up spanning a large section of the continent. His servants, Primordial Blue Raine and Primordial Green Mizeri, were the only two to remain with him. They would also aid in casting the spell.
Veldora and Velzard, the other two True Dragons, were set up as the final line of defense if everyone else should fail. Their energy would have been instrumental in casting the spell, so much that the others might not have fallen into a ten-millennia sleep; but if the attempt to banish Jörmungandr failed none of them would have stood a chance against it after performing such heavy magic. Not even the dragons.
Thus, they were Plan B: if the spell failed, Veldora and Velzard would have the best chance of destroying the world serpent when everyone else was down. If it succeeded, they would spend their time guarding Rimuru and Guy, respectively, as they rested; and they would be there to step in if the Midgard Serpent somehow returned before ten thousand years were up. Veldora would also be assisting Velgrynd and the demons, before escaping at the last second.
“You’re clear to go Veldora,” Guy’s voice came through the thought link. “Show that thing what a True Dragon can do.”
Nobody had room to talk when the fight was on. After Veldora arrived and Velgrynd sent an urgent “Now!” through thought communication, everyone’s energies were devoted to powering the spell.
Rimuru felt it was a bit anticlimactic, sitting in a cave underground and pouring energy into the magic circle. No explosions or strategy or shots whizzing by his head—just put your magic in the circle; every last drop of it. Still, the lack of visual flair did not lessen the importance of the task in his mind.
Through the spell Rimuru could feel every other caster, arranged in key positions across the world. Using thought communication directly was impossible while maintaining concentration, but their emotions bled through in the magic. They were all one mind, casting one spell, and he could almost see them via magic sense as clearly as he saw the walls of his own little cave.
Jörmungandr, as expected, was fighting back—and doing so with immense power; but Velgrynd, Veldora and the demons were keeping it busy enough that it could never break the magic enveloping it. Just keep pushing, a little more, an inch at a time…
[Report.] The voice of Raphael, Rimuru’s skill, echoed in his head. [The physical body of individual Veldora Tempest has been destroyed. Attempting to retrieve soul—]
Rimuru had about half a second to feel shock before a blinding light filled the cave, and he and Raphael fell unconscious.
END CHAPTER 1