Traveler from Type-Moon, Demon Lord Rimuru!

However, The Church is different. Although they are said to be a feint force, unlike the magi who are merely here to gather intelligence and are attacking in scattered, individual groups, the number of people dispatched by The Church is far from insignificant. This is because, beyond the initial round of intelligence gathering, The Church has one more victory condition than the Clock Tower.

Purge all heretics!

Compared to the Mage Association, The Church's power structure is more unified and cohesive. Yet, precisely because of this, they must pay a price elsewhere. For instance, even though it is the Mage Association's territory that is under attack, they—the sworn enemies of the Dead Apostles—are far more concerned than the Mage Association itself.

After all, if the Dead Apostles truly gain momentum, they are the ones who should be most anxious.

One by one, the Executors climbed up from the ruins, gathered together, and stared at each other for a long moment, falling into a heavy silence.

A squad of dozens, yet in an instant, fewer than ten remained alive!

The group looked in unison at their captain, the super-elite Executor Kotomine Kirei. The latter, watching the crow in the sky unleash another storm of dark wings in a different direction, suddenly realized something. After a moment of faint silence, he ultimately shook his head and said, "Continue the purge. Be careful to disperse, and do not use methods that easily attract attention."

"Send someone out to inform the other Executors," Kotomine Kirei said calmly. "The Black Winged Duke is likely responsible for clearing out outsiders invading this city; what we just saw was merely a casual attack from him."

"Then they..." An Executor looked at his fallen comrades on the ground, unable to stop his fists from clenching.

"Clean them up. Do not give the Dead Apostles a chance to turn them into ghouls," Kotomine Kirei said coldly. After speaking, he glanced at that Executor again; the man's eyes were flickering with a trace of rage and hatred. Clearly, among the dead were his partners or friends.

"Do not think about revenge. The opponent is one of the Dead Apostle Ancestors." Having said that, he turned and continued walking deeper into Cornwall.

"But, we can't just let him keep attacking us like this, can we?" Another Executor suddenly spoke up.

However, Kotomine Kirei's figure did not even turn back, slowly disappearing into the depths of the street: "That is not a problem for you to ponder."

But soon, Kotomine Kirei's voice drifted back: "The Burial Agency is on its way. Someone will be there to keep him occupied by then."

Meanwhile, at the Clock Tower—

"The White Winged Duke has appeared. He seems to have never left Germany, and has barely made any moves." In the Lord conference room, besides a few scattered Lords, there were also a dozen or so various familiars present.

"It seems the White Knight and the White Winged Duke did not reach an agreement?" A hoarse voice came through: "That is, at least, good news."

"Compared to that, Judith, shouldn't you be withdrawing your Executors? If this continues, I fear they will be completely wiped out—" The familiar representing Liddell spoke up suddenly and crisply. At the same time, a visual feed from a young magus's familiar on Rimuru's side appeared before everyone. In the image, the Black Winged Duke was leading a flock of birds in a rampage, and every time he transformed into a streak of darkness that swept over a group of Executors, only a dozen corpses remained: "To deal with the Black Winged Duke, one needs at least the strength of a Lord, and the next Lord on our side won't arrive until tomorrow morning at the earliest—"

"..." This image made the faces of the personnel in charge from The Church look somewhat grim: "It is indeed somewhat unexpected. There seems to have been an accident with the Burial Agency, but it has already been resolved. It will be... soon."

"Oh, an accident?" The old fox Trantbellio suddenly asked with a smile: "What kind of accident?"

"Nothing, just one of the members of the Burial Agency... defected."

Chapter 061: You Are More Like a Demon Lord Than I Am, Rimuru

The defection of a member of the Burial Agency is not exactly fresh news to everyone. Although such information is considered one of The Church's secrets, the two factions have been fighting for hundreds of years, and it has long been an open secret that they plant spies and informants within each other's organizations.

As for the Burial Agency, because they need to deal with non-human entities, their recruitment standards prioritize strength above all else. Not only are background, personality, and personal character secondary, but the rule that one cannot leave once they join—and that leaving constitutes defection—dooms this organization to personnel turnover and defections every few years.

But to defect at such a critical juncture... that is certainly interesting.

Looking at the suspicious gazes of those present, the Pope himself had his own grievances. After all... this damned Burial Agency is less of a special arbitration body subordinate to The Church, and more of a hitman organization that is so powerful that they are forced to maintain cooperation and tolerate them!

One must know that members of the Burial Agency have the authority to execute first and report later, even regarding the Pope. For him, this is a Damocles sword forever hanging over his head!

Thinking of this, the Pope let out an imperceptible sigh, and this sigh caused those present to exchange glances and fall silent.

It seems... the internal structure of The Church is not as solid as it appears.

Liddell's familiar remained motionless, but her mind began to churn.

Could this be good news for Rimuru?

In the dark of the night, within the shadows of an alley in the Cornwall urban area, a figure nimbly avoided several wandering ghouls. A faint concealment magecraft emitted a ghostly shadow hue, masking the scent of the living on his body. The next moment, he locked onto the timing of several ghouls exiting a residence, agilely climbed to the second floor, and after observing patiently for a while, he saw two Dead Apostles discussing something. He locked onto their positions and suddenly, a burst of immense strength erupted from his arm!

Clang!

In an instant, the residence's glass shattered into spiderweb-like fragments, emitting a crisp sound. A dozen wandering ghouls immediately discovered this uninvited guest and let out roars and growls. He quickly flipped through the window, a flash of silver light streaked by, and with a squelch, a head and body were completely parted. Blood gushed from the throat of one Dead Apostle like a pillar, splattering the entire table.

"Damn it..." The other Dead Apostle's pupils shrank at the sight. While habitually summoning blood servants, he bared his fangs and lunged forward with explosive speed—but even so, he was dodged by this figure with extreme sensitivity. In the instant he was grabbed by the arm, the figure suddenly flipped, pulled out a Black Key, and backhanded it into the Dead Apostle's chest—

Squelch!

The silver-white blade pierced through the chest. The Dead Apostle felt his heart ache, and as his vitality began to drain, he struggled desperately, trying to turn back and tear at the other's throat, hoping to recover from his wounds by drinking blood. But the opponent gave him no chance—the next moment, a magecraft sigil was carved where the Black Key pierced the chest, and golden light blasted the entire Dead Apostle into fragments with a bang.

Blood and mangled remains filled the room.

"Weak..." After finishing off the Dead Apostles, this Executor coldly observed his surroundings and muttered to himself: "Dead Apostles converted from civilians, they don't even know how to apply the most basic magecraft."

He glanced at the rice bowl on the table that hadn't been cleaned up yet and raised an eyebrow: "Still maintaining human living habits... and their understanding of combat readiness is also very low..."

"Useless, except for being able to control ghouls... they are not a threat."

Thinking of this, the Executor seemed somewhat puzzled. Then, what was the White Knight's purpose in converting them?

Even if he needed a city of Dead Apostles, the best choice for such worthless civilians should have been to use them as blood-food—

Just then, a roar suddenly erupted from behind the door—the ghouls and living corpses wandering nearby had already rushed in. He had to pause his thinking, crossed his hands, and instantly pulled out six Black Keys. Screech!

Mana was stimulated, and six silver-shining blades pierced out from the ends of the Black Key hilts. With a swish, he flung them out!

In an instant, several ghouls and living corpses were killed in one strike. The Executor walked to the window, glanced warily at the rampaging Black Winged Duke in the sky, and silently disappeared into the darkness once again.

He was none other than Kotomine Kirei.

Ever since he realized that the Black Winged Duke's job was to clear out intruders, he had maintained an assassin's style, changing his method of clearing from the original collective use of anti-demonic magecraft to now acting alone, using Black Keys to purge them step by step!

It must be said that his choice to do this was not wrong, because he discovered that... within Cornwall, what everyone considered the true threat—those Dead Apostles hiding in the shadows—were not plotting any grand conspiracy, but rather that their combat effectiveness... was, in fact, truly nothing more than the ability to control other Ghouls and possessing physical strength slightly higher than an average living corpse.

Those who were able to retain their own consciousness were, in fact, even less difficult to deal with than that group of beast-like living corpses!

"They really are quite weak." Above the endless dark night, Rimuru, who saw everything, could not help but whisper softly, feeling somewhat helpless.

The thick fog drifted and dispersed, shrouding the entire Cornwall and placing the whole city completely under Rimuru's perception.

However, it was not surprising; soon, Rimuru chuckled and shook his head. After all, among this group of Dead Apostles, only a very small number were converted from former soldiers, while the majority were civilians who had known nothing of the mystery world and were merely lucky enough to have successfully converted due to a tiny bit of magical aptitude.

Rimuru was clear on this point, which was why he simply let them act freely—of the more than thirty thousand Dead Apostles in Cornwall today, apart from the few thousand who had followed the faction of Altrouge from the beginning, nearly eighty percent of the remaining newcomers were trash.

They were nothing more than cheap cannon fodder.

However, although Rimuru did not care, there were always those who were dissatisfied with this, such as Altrouge.

She had seen Kotomine Kirei release killing intent more than once while assassinating the Dead Apostles.

"Can I not take action yet? Rimuru!"

"Be patient a little longer, Your Highness." Rimuru watched Kotomine Kirei, who was completely unaware, attack another Dead Apostle, and said softly: "You have already ordered the Black Winged Duke to intervene, so could you please calm down, alright?"

The Black Winged Duke taking action now was not actually his original intention, because doing so might cause The Church to choose to retreat temporarily—but since Her Highness was so protective of her people, there was no other way.

Fortunately, it was clear that these Executors had not withdrawn; they had merely dispersed to act individually, and their movements had become even more covert.

"As the saying goes, kings against kings, generals against generals." Rimuru chuckled: "If you take action now, it will only put us in an unfavorable position."

"I understand the logic..." Hearing this, Altrouge puffed up her cheeks like a steamed bun, her little face sagging as she said: "But are you just going to let them slaughter my subordinates like that?"

"You can't really call it a slaughter, can you?" Rimuru blinked, helpless: "If we really talk about who is suffering, out of the two hundred or so Executors, there are less than a hundred left now; clearly, their losses are greater."

"Besides, they are not your subordinates, Your Highness."

Having said this, Rimuru paused, a trace of coldness appearing in his golden eyes as he began to explain: "Have you ever looked into the strength of the Mage's Association and The Church in detail?"

"The Mage's Association has the support of nearly ten thousand first-class mage families, and The Church, even more so, currently possesses nearly a thousand branches worldwide, tens of thousands of believers, nearly a million nuns and exorcists, and... tens of thousands of Executors."

"We have quite a few high-combat-power Dead Apostles too..." Hearing this, Altrouge wrinkled her nose stubbornly and muttered under her breath.

"Indeed, but none of them are in Cornwall."

"As you have seen, the Dead Apostles converted from civilians have extremely low combat power because they have never been exposed to magic. Admittedly, they had high enough aptitude to successfully convert, but clearly, we do not have the time to give them room to grow."

"And while those few hundred Executors are all elites, they only represent the vanguard... the real main force, an army of thousands, or even tens of thousands of Executors, will arrive soon."

"There is also the powerful logistical support of the mages, the bonuses from their defensive positions, and the supply of magical potions."

"Do you think this group of Dead Apostles can hold them off?"

"Even if you protect them tonight, what about tomorrow? What about the day after? Once those old monsters all enter the fray, according to the plan, we might only be able to retreat—let alone them."

"..." Altrouge opened her mouth, speechless, and stomped her foot in annoyance: "I knew I couldn't win an argument with you! I must be sick to even try to persuade you!"

"This isn't a matter of persuasion, Your Highness."

Hearing this, Rimuru helplessly rubbed her head and said softly: "Don't you understand yet, Your Highness?"

"The moment they accepted the devil's temptation out of greed for eternity, they already stepped into hell; they are already dead people."

"Their only purpose is to fill this city and give the Mage's Association and The Church the illusion that there are thirty thousand Dead Apostles here, requiring a massive force to conquer."

"...In other words, Cornwall is a battlefield... right?" Altrouge finally understood. She looked up at Rimuru in astonishment, narrowing her blood-red eyes: "The so-called kings against kings, generals against generals—but when your side lacks low-end combat power while the opponent has it... even in a battle between kings, the aftermath of the battle will become..."

"Exactly... a slaughter."

Rimuru nodded indifferently and looked outside the city: "I have said before, the purpose of Cornwall's existence was to hurt them; it was destined to be abandoned sooner or later."

"From the moment you stepped onto this land, the death of its five hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants was already sealed, Rimuru..." Altrouge looked at Rimuru deeply: "You are more like a Demon Lord than I am."

"If it allows my goal to be achieved, let alone five hundred and thirty thousand people." Rimuru shook his head gently: "What would a million, or ten million... matter?"

Hearing this, Altrouge's little face twitched, looking completely bewildered.

That may be true, but your goal is to protect humanity!

Has your character collapsed?! You really are a big liar!

Rimuru turned his head and looked at the suspicious Altrouge, as if seeing through her thoughts, and said amusedly: "I never said I was a saint, Your Highness."

"In fact, to some extent, I have always been a traditional mage."

"Then why do you want to protect humanity?"

Hearing this, Rimuru smiled mysteriously, took a light breath, and met Altrouge's eyes earnestly.

"Guess?"

"Ahhh... guess your head!!!"

In the end, Rimuru did not answer Altrouge's question directly, because even he did not know the most definitive answer to that question.

He was willing to complete the Director's commission, but that was not the key; the people he cared about belonged to humanity, yet Rimuru firmly believed they were the type of existence that could survive even if humanity were to perish.

Even the prospect of saving the Human Order brought him a hint of the desire for a challenge, and the fact that he found it interesting was also an indispensable reason.

Therefore, in the end, Rimuru could only give Altrouge an ambiguous answer.

"Perhaps it's because I don't want the people around me to feel lonely in the future," Rimuru chuckled softly. "After all, if human society were to disappear, this planet would be so desolate."

"Oh..." Altrouge blinked, and suddenly thinking of something, she asked with a hint of bashfulness, "Then the people around you... does that include... include me?"

"..."

Seriously, enough! Rimuru was rendered speechless. He suddenly felt that his past self had truly misunderstood the protagonists in those novels; it turned out that reality was often more magical than fiction, and it turned out that girls really would throw themselves at you!

The protagonists in those novels at least hit the mark because they intended to flirt, but he... he really didn't want to flirt at all!!

Even though he thought this way, when Rimuru heard the question, his body answered quite honestly: "Of course, my Princess."

"Heh! Scumbag."

"??? Great Sage?!?"

"Heh! Heh!"

"..."

On the other side, faced with the priest's demand to continue advancing, Rimuru the magus had originally wanted to refuse outright. After all, his position as a magus gave him every reason to choose to retreat—

His mission had been to cover for the young magi as they gathered intelligence to confirm how much combat power was within Cornwall and whether the White Winged Duke was present. But now that the intelligence had been mostly gathered, and the White Winged Duke had even surfaced in Germany, he could naturally choose to run away. Of course, advancing wasn't impossible...

But it would cost extra!

Thus, having successfully secured more funding, Rimuru, with the support of the Clock Tower, reluctantly indicated that he could help these good friends from The Church go deeper. The other magi also made similar demands one after another, leaving the Director in the conference room fuming and blowing his beard.

Of course, the most important reason he agreed was because... he smelled an opportunity!

He smelled an opportunity to temporarily slip away from the battlefield, to conspire over the Leyline, and to summon Saber!

Nebula M78 756365104

PS: As expected, the launch was a total flop, boo hoo, the ancients did not deceive me!!