Harbingers of Change

Chapter 21

A full day after triggering the demon lord awakenings, there hadn't been any mass-scale attacks on Tempest's soil by foreign powers. However, the intrusion rate of estimated foreign spies had only slightly upticked, completely within reasonable and counterable ranges to purge afterward. The crime rates did rise, but not beyond previously established estimates. After all, petty thefts and minor property damages wouldn't seriously threaten a nation's stability, thus not giving much reason for concern beyond more upfront work for the re-awakening police forces for the next few hours.

To ensure that there wasn't any delay in communication, Ramiris' control room was turned into a temporary central command room where all the critical personnel had gathered to ensure that there was no delay should any threats reveal themselves. With either Buku or Albedo awakening any minute, the true test of preparedness would begin: to manage their nation.

Momonga sat right beside Ramiris at the observation panel, overlooking strategically important locations like underground research labs performing level two research, the industrial district that housed a good portion of Tempest's production capability and numerous border locations that could be prime points for invasion.

There was a separate office table for Kagali who was in constant communication with Gazel, coordinating with Free Guild mercenaries and Dwargon troops through branch leaders and commanding officers to cover up what Tempest was estimated to lose. Pandora was acting as her assistant, assuming her form just to replicate her voice to manage what she could not. His acting ability was great, but a knowing eye could see some discrepancies. Pandora was noticeably more animated than the more subdued Kagali, using hand gestures when talking even though communication orbs didn't provide any form of visuals, but that wasn't really noticeable to most strangers and Kagali was the one who handled the uppermost echelons like Gazel anyways.

The last ones present in the room were Veldora and Rubedo, who both would act as scorched earth trump cards should an all-out invasion happen. Their mere presence would be able to annihilate entire human armies within minutes if they chose to invade during this time.

Aura and Mare, together with Milim, were patrolling the lower population areas. While Sebas was stationed in Rigurd's office as temporary mayor at least until Rigurd would reawaken from his slumber. With some luck, they would be able to hold off smaller invasions that were too small to involve Veldora and Rubedo.

Lastly, Pero was keeping an eye on Mariabell, who likely would attempt some underhanded actions to increase her influence in Tempest if left without any oversight due to her ambitions. As competent as the reborn otherworlder was, Mariabell was still under the impression she would be capable of manipulating Nazarick's upper echelons, much to Pero's amusement. But while her usefulness was greater than the risk she posed, having run such a ludicrously large economic force that even Pero once struggled to fight against, there wasn't a need to brute force submission or outright elimination of Mariabell.

After all, the girl was an economic genius and, true to her word, had greatly increased Tempest's influence on human nations through the United Trade Company. Ambitions weren't discouraged in Tempest, they kept the strong motivated to continually push to become even better in fact. However, they also had to be monitored to ensure they didn't grow out of hand and cause internal strife.

All this time, Momonga carefully monitored the six soon-to-be awakened Demon Lords. While they progressed at similar speeds, there were some notable differences between them all.

He had caught wind that his three consorts had made the evolution into a competition. Who among them would awaken first, thus working on their end to accelerate the evolution as much as they could? Diablo, the ever overzealous servant he was, likely would do the same to keep up and remain useful to his master's wives. Buku, on the other hand, likely would be the last to awaken, as Pero had joked, his sister would use the opportunity to have a prolonged nap without any interruptions, and the hibernation of the harvest festival was the perfect excuse to have it since she knew Momonga would never interfere with an evolution after witnessing how badly it had almost ruined Hinata.

According to the current estimates by Manas: Nazarick, his predicted order would happen. Albedo, as the most prideful of his consorts, was ahead of others, closely followed by Diablo and then Shalltear. Buku and Shion were the last, with Shion possibly coming second to last depending on certain variables. Although the overall difference would come down to mere minutes, not extensive hours as they had argued between themselves.

The moment Albedo opened her eyes, the nationwide Harvest Festival began. From the lowliest of rabbit people and skeletons to the mightiest of kijins and death empresses, all monsters connected to Nazarick fell into deep slumber, collapsing upon their designated beds to prevent discomfort and inadvertent injuries.

His head consort teleported into the control room, now as a fully spiritual being, her barely restricted aura flaring in intense excitement. Despite now being on the same level in an evolutionary sense, Kagali lagged behind Albedo in terms of raw power, with the latter having about three times higher magicule count and the only equalizer being that both had ultimate skills that made a potential duel a lot more merit dependent.

As for changes, Albedo, same as the others, had her name attached to her main ultimate skill, and her Walls of Jericho had evolved into the Ultimate skill World Defender. This new skill had vastly improved her abilities, not only to be near invulnerable but to protect others she deems worthy. She was very quick to apply it to Momonga before giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Has anything of note happened during my absence?" She inquired.

"Nothing major. For now, it seems there won't be any attacks," Momonga replied.

The demoness nodded, assuming a professional smile and immediately summoned Manas: Nazarick to assist with administrative duties. There was work to do after all.

Diablo was next to arrive. His new power level surpassed even floor guardians such as Mare and Aura, making him a veritable powerhouse. The evolution combined with a proper deadman body had done wonders for him, placing the trusty attendant just under Rubedo in terms of power. Combined with his immaculate control over magical powers as a demon, he could possibly beat Rubedo in a one-on-one duel so long as she didn't invoke her void form.

"I am ready to be of use, Lord Momonga," He announced with a deep bow, holding his right hand over his heart.

"Very well. Travel to Dwargon and ensure Gazel has things under control." Momonga ordered. Diablo now also had an ultimate skill Azazel, Lord of Temptation which evolved from his unique skill Tempter.

A quick investigation revealed that the skill came from within the system and didn't have any hidden clauses that would let anyone take over the demon. In fact, it belonged to the same series of skills that Milim's Satanael, Lord of Wrath belonged to. With this information, he could be assured there was no need to remove the name core from the skill and thus left it alone. There would be no Gods touching one of his strongest subordinates.

Shalltear awakened soon after Diablo, a mere twelve minutes later. Same as with Albedo, her ultimate skill bore her name permanently, ensuring Ker couldn't weasel her way back into control.

Then Demiurge was the one to awaken next and quietly resumed his duties. Unlike the rest, he had only efficiency in mind and didn't pay much attention to the supposed race. Same as his peers he had his name attached to the ultimate skill, but there weren't any other notable changes in his skill set.

Not even a minute later, Shion was the last among his consorts to finish her evolution. Compared to her peers, her growth was astounding. She still fell behind Albedo and Shalltear in terms of raw power, but now the difference wasn't as insurmountable as before, putting her well above Kagali and nearing Shalltear. Also, she now possessed a God Skill, in her case Lyssa, Goddess of Wrath. Additionally, she somehow managed to get a new unique skill, Cook, which seemed like a mockery since Shion was by far the worst cook found in Nazarick. Her ability to produce food was so bad that Demiurge used her concoctions to develop potent biochemical weapons so dangerous they had even been banned from use during the Falmuth war.

In fact, Shion wasn't allowed to go near any kitchen both within the Great Tomb or the Royal Castle. That however didn't stop her from somehow producing unholy concoctions by borrowing Tempestian restaurants that made anthrax look harmless in comparison.

Momonga looked past the strange unique skill that seemingly radiated power akin to an ultimate skill somehow, choosing to investigate it later, and concentrated right upon the God skill. The Goddess behind the skill already waited for him to make the contact and, considering that Lyssa was also the Goddess of Madness and supposed origin of Rabies, she might end up causing more problems no matter the outcome.

'Ah, I have heard of you, walker of the path of death. Will you try to deprive me of one who sought me out?' Her whispering voice asked.

'I won't let you control her.' Momonga stated in no uncertain terms, glaring at the Goddess. He had finally gotten used to their intimidating presence.

'Control?' The Goddess laughed. 'No one controls wrath and madness, only guide or unleash. Those who walk this path cannot be held by the collar. It is my and her very nature not to be chained. I will teach her to use her wrath as an expression of her very nature, not drown in it.' She paused. 'I ask you again, will you try to deprive me of my new daughter of wrath, or let her embrace her gifts to your benefit?'

There was truth behind these words. Shion was the most stubborn and relentless of his consorts. It was because of these characteristics she had earned the respect of Albedo and Shalltear. She would not let herself be controlled by this entity, instead likely seeing Lyssa as new heights to rise to and practice fighting against.

'I will not cut the connection, but I will be watching.'

'Enjoy the show,' The Goddess replied, sounding amused as she withdrew her presence.

'If I knew what I know now and tried to talk with Gods who connected to the first round of skills, maybe I wouldn't have made an enemy like Ker.' Momonga dwelled on what could have been for a short while before moving on, there was no point in grumbling over spilled milk.

With Shion's new abilities, she likely was one of Nazarick's most dangerous combatants, with wrath having a similar effect on her as Milim's stampede, greatly boosting her stats in exchange for losing bits of her sanity.

'I shouldn't let them spar. It might end badly.' He made a mental note to keep the two away from one another in any combat setting, setting Nazarick to run the calculations and ideal methods.

Now only Buku remained in the deep sleep stage. Minutes ticked by and turned into hours, but she wasn't waking up, her power level steadily growing past Pero and floor guardians and inching ever so closer to Diablo and Rubedo.

'What's going on?' His curiosity got the better of him and Momonga reached out to see what was going on with Buku's evolution through the evolutionary backdoor. First, her unique skill had evolved into the Ultimate skill Unkillable, which made her immortality levels match his. This skill existed on the edge of the system itself, making Buku return even after she was eradicated on a spiritual level akin to the ability Diablo had as a demon. But while Diablo's immortality came from the touch of the void, Buku's seemingly came from the divine realm, as if in divine opposition.

As he was investigating her progress, a subtle feeling of loss filled his heart. Something was taken from Nazarick without his permission. Before he could make sense of it Nazarick came in with a report, screeching in his mind, sounding frantic with worry.

'Boss, Buku just used her second-in-command privileges, and with executive order, took all remaining four hundred and eighty thousand souls from the storage. I couldn't stop her in time!'

{ I will get to the bottom of this! Monitor Buku and if necessary, recall Milim. } 'Just what in the world is going on with her?!'

Buku's power level spiked up even more, surpassing Diablo's and Rubedo's estimates and stopping just short of his, making Buku the fourth most powerful entity connected to Nazarick regarding raw power as the sole metric, surpassing even her flashy brother who had decimated the Charybdis in an instant.

Her God skill now carried her name, but there was more. The name core had a connection to higher realms, a lot stronger than before. Buku had already surpassed demon lord level and evolved into something more similar to him, though not even remotely similar to a true dragon given the great power difference between mere demon lords, designed for fighting against heroes, and the highest ranking of spiritual beings: the True Dragons.

As Momonga tried to grab the cord he heard shrieking in his mind, { Don't! }

'Buku?'

'I am fine, it's all by my choice. I… found my mentor.'

'Explain!'

'The one you separated my skill from, Selene, she came to me while I dreamt. She will guide me just as you are guided. I found my path. Oh, and sorry about the souls. Consider this me cashing in my salary. I needed them,' Buku explained.

She didn't sound any different or set off any alarms. It seemed that she spoke the truth, or at least fully believed it, without any outside control that he could sense.

'I see, I would've preferred you at least tried to warn me.'

'I don't have a phone in this place. I'll be up in a moment. And don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. Just have my own things to work on. And just for the record, Selene isn't mad at you for cutting her off from me.'

'Is there anything else I should know?'

'Well, Ker, by messing with you, a mere mortal at the time, out of spite, isn't exactly popular among her peers, and the rest you cut will simply wait for their opportunities to reconnect with others since they understood where you were coming from. My bro is apparently already on the path so there wasn't a need to brute force things like Selene did with me. What else… I guess I'm not Akari and Shizue anymore, just me Buku. Give me about half an hour and I'll be fully back!' She spoke in a cheerful manner.

'Sure. Don't take too long or I'll tell Pero you overslept,' Momonga chuckled.

'Don't you dare! I won't hear the end of it from the bird!' Buku growled as her presence slowly faded from his mind.

Trusting his friend was one thing, but she could've been deceived, being less knowledgeable in the divine arts. Trusting the entity behind this sudden evolution was a different case entirely.

'I need to get to the bottom of this.' He decided to go around Buku and follow the cord to its source. Even before he was halfway there, a soft low voice interrupted him, stopping him in his tracks.

'Ever suspicious. What answers do you seek, Young One?'

'Why did you take the rest of the souls?'

'I didn't. Buku did. I only showed her the way to use them. Her path is not yours to dictate.'

'Right. And of course, there's no way to validate your claims.'

'You can try,' The voice playfully retorted. 'I am curious to see if you can understand Buku's path or not.'

Not content with just giving up, Momonga dived deeper, seeking the answers to his questions. First and foremost, he couldn't find any signs of control or other malicious tampering. It seemed that Buku indeed had made the choices since the Goddess was even connected to the skill like before, exactly as how it was before. But that's where his understanding stopped. Buku had tipped her toes in a current he didn't understand, only having a vague sensation of darkness and selfish determination to grow.

'She made her own choice then?'

'Everyone does, Young One. You know her well. Tell me, do you think she would not have chosen this path willingly?'

'How can I know that, with your greater powers than I can perceive? How do I know you have not tricked her into doing your bidding?'

'You're asking me for an answer?' The voice laughed in delight. 'Use your heart to know. Words can deceive only those who do not listen to their hearts. Am I or your friend deceiving you?'

As much as he tried, he couldn't sense any deceit or hatred from this Goddess. In the end, he simply had to admit that Buku's path was beyond his control.

'I guess not everything's in my control. Still, I will put the souls on her tab. She took everything.' Momonga returned his attention back to the present moment, the goddess chuckling as he left.

Buku took her sweet time and awoke only one and a half hours later, not the half an hour she had promised. Once she arrived in the control room, Veldora looked at her weirdly.

"There's something different about you." He commented.

The dragon had taken it rather hard that he didn't notice Momonga becoming the same type of entity as him and had to hear it from his sister.

"What exactly?" Buku asked with a mischievous smile.

"Not sure. For one, you're kinda up there with little bro. You aren't planning to join the family too, are you?" He inquired, fear creeping into his voice.

"I'll pass. One brother gives enough headaches to deal with. I'll leave you to your sisters to handle."

Momonga wanted to keep his mouth shut, but he had to warn her even if it ruined her mood. "You should prepare for when Milim finds out. Repairing the eighth floor isn't cheap."

"Ah, god dammit! Hey, I can hide my aura and…" Buku visibly deflated upon realizing she might now become her future daughter-in-law's favorite sparring partner, or more precisely, her favorite punching bag.

"Dragon eye!" Veldora roared with laughter, crushing Buku's hopes.

"Just… for fuck's sake. I'll worry about it later. Momo, what needs to be done now?"

"I guess you can go over diplomatic channels and see if anyone is getting worried," Momonga suggested.

"Got it, Boss."

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by aidan_lo, Clagan, Cay, Sluethen, NuggetLover, FantasyTroll, KieraKieraARTS, CakeEight, Working_Stiff, Nervy and Stac.

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