The dawn after celebration marked the first day of a new era.
The battle was over. The skies were no longer crimson. The ground had stopped shaking. But in every corner of the Cardinal World, the scars remained.
Cities crumbled. Roads cracked. Temples, villages, ports—destroyed. Millions displaced.
But not defeated.
Because the world had one thing it never truly had before—unity.
At the center of the Forgotten Dragon Kingdom, a grand council was called.
In the Hall of Unity, built from enchanted stone and glowing crystal, sat every leader. Demon Lords. Kings. Queens. Generals. Elders of the elves. Chiefs of beastkin. Dwarf architects. Fairy envoys. Even the dragons sent their voices.
At the head of the table sat Guy Crimson and Rimuru, co-chairing the council, while Leon Cromwell, Luminous Valentine, Milim Nava, Draguel, Velzard, Velgrynd, and Rudra took major seats beside them.
Rimuru stood up first.
"This world nearly ended. That's no exaggeration," he said, voice steady. "But now we have a second chance. A world rebuilt not by magic alone—but by our own hands."
He looked around.
"Let's not waste it."
Guy leaned forward. "Each of us will take part in reconstruction. Every kingdom. Every race. Every guild. We'll split into regions and rotate our forces. No one gets left behind."
Leon raised a brow. "And who leads the coordination?"
Draguel placed a large scroll on the table. "We've already started forming teams. The dwarves will handle structural rebuilding. My time mages will fast-forward construction zones without damaging space."
Luminous added, "We'll send high clerics to the most affected towns—heal the sick, cure famine, bless the soil."
Milim nodded excitedly. "I'll bring food and celebrations to keep morale high!"
Everyone: "...Please don't eat the food before it's served."
Week 1 – Ground Zero
Every Demon Lord returned to their domain—not to rule, but to rebuild.
Tempest
Rimuru led engineers and dwarves to restore broken towns and the collapsed walls of Tempest. With Benimaru and Shion leading the charge, they rebuilt bridges, cleared debris, and set up massive farms. Gabil and the lizardmen restored water systems.
Gobta tried helping... but mostly got stuck in concrete.
Dwargon
Gazel Dwargo's kingdom had lost its southern industrial zone. With Guy Crimson's elite ice-elementals and Velgrynd's fire magic to weld steel, the entire factory district was reconstructed within days.
Elven woodcrafters came to redesign eco-friendly buildings.
Gazel: "If only trade talks were this efficient."
El Dorado
Leon used his kingdom's massive gold reserves to pay for city-wide reconstruction. Floating towers were lowered back to the ground. His knights helped restore burned villages.
Leon, to his people: "Gold is worthless if the people have no homes."
Ruberios
Luminous flew across the sky healing the wounded and empowering priests. Sacred barriers were placed over towns to protect from further disaster.
She opened her cathedrals to orphans and civilians.
Hinata led efforts to rebuild the knight academy. "We'll train warriors—not just mages. Atraval proved we need both."
Dragon Kingdom
Milim was everywhere. With her strength, she literally carried entire mountain-sized rocks back into place. She helped rebuild schools, homes, and even played with the children.
Milim: "LET'S BUILD A CASTLE SLIDE!"
Rimuru: "...That's not part of the blueprint, Milim."
Month 1 – The Rise
The skies began to glow clearer. Roads connected. Rivers flowed clean again. Trade restarted.
The Fairy Tribes returned and used nature magic to regrow forests.
The Beastmen worked with the elves to rebuild villages in the south.
The Dragons helped reconstruct ancient ruins and sacred temples.
Veldora, when not bragging to kids, used wind breath to power windmills.
Carrion's warriors cleared monsters in the wilds.
Diablo, with his shadow demons, built entire cities overnight.
Month 2 – Unity in Motion
A new currency system was proposed between kingdoms. A common language scroll was released, enchanted so every race could communicate better. Rimuru led the talks with Leon and the dwarves to establish The Cardinal Accord—a magical contract that guaranteed peace and aid across kingdoms.
Kingdoms that once feuded were now trading freely.
Refugees returned. Schools reopened. Fields flourished. Farmers rejoiced.
A new monument was built at the site where Yujiro defeated Atraval—a black obelisk that read:
"Power is not magic. Power is the will to protect, to rise, and to endure."
Month 3 – Return of Life
At the Forgotten Dragon Kingdom, the last of the displaced civilians were ready to go home.
Velzard stood on the balcony with Rimuru and Guy.
"We've done it," she said.
Guy crossed his arms. "Took all of us… but yes."
Rimuru smiled. "Three months. That would've taken three decades before."
Children laughed. Markets were full. Music played.
Then Veldora shouted from the courtyard, holding a cup, "AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS HOW I DEFEATED ATRAVAL WITH ONE ROAR!"
The kids cheered.
Rimuru facepalmed. "I should've known."
One last gathering was held—this time, to celebrate.
Rimuru raised a toast. "To the world that didn't end—and to everyone who helped rebuild it."
Guy added, "And let this remind us… we are not gods. We are people. And together… we stand stronger."
Everyone cheered.
As the stars lit up above and fireworks burst across the sky, the world felt… new.
Peace had returned.
But deep in the void beyond the stars… something ancient stirred.
The Cardinal World was healed.
But the story was far from over.
Even though the world stood whole again, rebuilt in light and song, peace was never absolute.
Underneath the surface, darkness stirred.
Old ambitions, long buried beneath the rubble of a fallen world, began to sprout like weeds after rain.
In the heart of the Free Guild Headquarters, within a war room hidden beneath the guild's main building, Yuuki Kagurazaka leaned back in his chair, eyes scanning dozens of magical blueprints, surveillance reports, and intelligence gathered from across the Cardinal World.
A table-sized illusion map hovered above him, displaying Tempest, Milim's Kingdom, Dwargon, the Labyrinth… and one glowing red icon at the center.
"Yujiro Hanma," Yuuki muttered. "The absolute variable. Untouchable. Unkillable."
Beside him, Laplace chuckled nervously.
"Boss, you really think you can do somethin' 'bout that monster? I mean, we saw what he did to Atraval. Turned 'im into jelly."
Yuuki didn't even blink. "I'm not an idiot. I can't beat him in a straight fight… no one can. But I don't need to. I just have to make him irrelevant."
Footman let out a grunt. "You gonna erase strength itself?"
"No," Yuuki said, leaning forward with a devilish smirk. "But what if I create a new battlefield? One where brute force means nothing?"
He pointed to a diagram of magical theory—multi-layered spell matrices, theoretical laws, dimensional divergence fields.
"I'm going to create a dimensional zone—a sealed world where only mental energy, calculation speed, and control work. Not raw power. In that world, Yujiro is just muscle. And muscle means nothing when you can't move."
Kigali, standing at the back with arms crossed, narrowed her eyes. "You're building a trap?"
"I'm building a cage," Yuuki corrected. "A cage for a godless beast."
Tear grinned wide. "Oooh, I wanna see the beast scream."
"But it's not ready," Yuuki admitted. "I still need more data. More test subjects. And I need to gather the remaining pieces of what Clayman left behind. His research… his notes. The bastard may have been weak, but he had some clever ideas."
Laplace tilted his head. "What about Rimuru?"
Yuuki smirked darkly. "He's still my test case. If I can't cage Rimuru, I can't cage Yujiro."
He stood, walking to the large screen projecting the latest footage of Tempest's capital.
"Let's see how the slime does when I flip the board."
Far above mortal reach, in the Celestial Realm of Astra, where reality twisted under divine will, the Seven Angels of Origin gathered in their sacred chamber, encased in divine crystal.
Feldway, once a noble servant of Veldanava, now a schemer drowning in the delusion of divine justice, stood before a shimmering image of the True Dragons.
"Veldanava gave everything," he said aloud, eyes glowing gold, "yet this world is ruled by parasites and demons. Weaklings. Chaos. Mortals."
He turned to his brethren.
Cornu, armored and blazing, gritted his teeth. "We were created to maintain balance, not to be outcasts."
Opera, sitting on the edge of a stone dais, examined her nails. "Then why don't we take it back?"
Garasha, keeper of logic, floated on divine energy. "Feldway's plan may finally be feasible. With magic destabilized during Atraval's descent, the world lines are cracked. We can attack."
Pico, silent and wide-eyed, traced the shape of a dragon in the air.
Zalario, quiet and stone-faced, nodded once. "But the dragons are strong."
Feldway's voice deepened.
"They are too strong. Veldora, Velgrynd, Velzard, Rudra, even Draguel. We cannot overpower them directly—not yet. But if we isolate them… break their minds… make them doubt, fear, or turn on one another…"
Opera smirked. "Divide the dragons."
"We don't need to defeat them," Feldway said. "We only need to destabilize them long enough to extract their Dragon Factors. The divine essences Veldanava gave them—his own blood and will."
Garasha nodded. "They're the only vessels strong enough to recreate the divine shell."
Feldway raised his hand and projected an image of Ivarage, the World-Destroyer Dragon—still sealed in a cosmic chain deep beneath the Void Sea.
"If the dragons fail to fall… we will unseal Ivarage. The World Eater. The ultimate deterrent."
Cornu grunted. "You mean unleash a beast that even Veldanava sealed?"
Feldway narrowed his eyes.
"We'll tame him. Or we'll die trying."