Reading Note: Voice of the World is in Bold and Italic meanwhile Inteligent Skills are only Bold.
After a moment of careful consideration, Lucian adjusted the bonds he shared with those connected to him.
Using the authority of Typhon, he deliberately reduced his bond with Rimuru. The connection was not severed, nor weakened in the sense of trust or closeness, but its hierarchical weight was altered. Under the laws enforced by the Voice of the World, a being recognized as a subordinate to an existing being could not undergo an independent Demon Lord awakening. If Lucian's bond to Rimuru remained unaltered, the Voice of the World would inevitably classify her evolution as a Gifting Ceremony, rather than a true Harvest Festival.
That was unacceptable.
By loosening the bond, Lucian ensured that Rimuru would not be flagged as his subordinate, allowing her to be recognized as an independent candidate undergoing her own Harvest Festival rather than receiving residual benefits from his ascension.
For everyone else, Lucian did the opposite.
Those he knew were unqualified for a Demon Lord awakening—due to lack of a Demon Lord Seed—had their bonds reinforced instead. Through Lucian, they would receive the effects of a Gifting Ceremony, gaining evolutionary benefits and skill awakenings without being subjected to the direct evolution of a full Harvest Festival.
The world responded immediately.
Magicules across the battlefield began to converge, spiraling inward as if gravity itself had intensified. The air grew dense and oppressive, carrying a pressure that did not threaten but demanded acknowledgment. Even the surrendered soldiers, most of whom lacked any understanding of magic, felt their instincts scream as the world shifted around them.
Then, the Voice of the World resounded.
Unique Skill: All-Seeing Seer has evolved into Ultimate Skill: Saga – Lord of Knowledge.
The change was instantaneous and absolute.
Saga did not flood Lucian's mind with information. Instead, it reorganized it. Knowledge was indexed, cross-referenced, and structured into a vast internal architecture. Unlike All-Seeing Seer, which focused on perception and observation, Saga functioned as a collector and administrator of information, capable of storing, sorting, and retrieving knowledge with flawless precision.
Saga immediately began processing the ongoing evolution.
Requesting Evolution of Unique Skill: Purgatory.
The request did not originate from the just Lucian, but from Saga itself.
Unique Skill: Purgatory has evolved into Ultimate Skill: Lilith – Lord of Purgatory.
The effect went far beyond a simple upgrade.
Within Lucian, the dimensional space known as Purgatory expanded violently, its internal boundaries unfolding and stabilizing into a fully realized closed world. What had once been a controlled confinement space transformed into a moon-scale internal dimension governed by immutable rules.
Punishment, confinement, judgment—these were no longer abstract concepts but laws enforced by Lilith's authority. While Lilith remained classified as an Ultimate Skill, its nature placed it within the category of World-Type Ultimate Skills, granting Lucian jurisdiction over a domain rather than a singular function.
The evolution continued.
Coercing Racial Evolution from Frost Eclipse Ogre… Error.
Racial Connotations flawed.
The Voice of the World detected an Error.
Saga immediately intervened.
Racial Forms detected.
Classifying Racial Forms into Unique Skill: Genetic Codex.
The failure was not arbitrary. Lucian did not possess a singular, stable racial identity. His body was a convergence of multiple monstrous forms accessed through the Essence of Typhon—forms the Voice of the World could not recognize as legitimate racial foundations.
To compensate, Saga had constructed an intermediary framework.
Identifying Genetic Codex and evolving.
Evolution pathways stabilized across Tempest.
Frost Eclipse Ogre → Frost Eclipse Oni.
The transformation tore through the affected individuals. Bones cracked and reformed, muscles condensed, and magicules surged violently through their bodies. Horns erupted, skin hardened, and their presence deepened as his existence was rewritten into a superior racial state.
Eclipse Dragonoid → Split Evolution confirmed.
High Moon Dragon Lord.
High Sun Dragon Lord.
Rather than forcing a singular outcome, the system stabilized two divergent evolutionary routes, each aligned with a different celestial authority.
Chaos Spirit Insectar → Apocalyptic Soul Insectar.
The transformation would activate when Lucian uses his newly earned Unique Skill
Saga continued refining.
Requesting Evolution of Unique Skill: Genetic Codex.
Unique Skill: Genetic Codex has evolved into Unique Skill: Evolution Codex.
Evolution Codex superseded its predecessor, no longer merely classifying genetic possibilities but actively optimizing evolutionary outcomes, acting as a functional substitute for a racial identity system in Lucian's case.
Saga attempted further refinement.
Requesting Evolution of Unique Skill: Genetic Codex.
Denied.
From an omniscient perspective, it was clear that Saga had engaged in multiple iterative negotiations with the Voice of the World—probing, reframing, and restructuring requests until optimal outcomes were achieved. The final results exceeded what Lucian himself would have gained through instinct alone.
Despite the Harvest Festival, Lucian remained conscious.
He was not undergoing racial evolution, and his infinite willpower anchored him firmly against the evolution's pressure. He stood unmoving at the center of the storm, overseeing countless simultaneous processes.
Rimuru, however, had begun her own evolution.
Her body glowed faintly as she drifted into unconsciousness, suspended within a cocoon of condensed magicules. Across Tempest, residents collapsed into deep slumber—an unavoidable requirement for safe evolution.
That created a problem.
The surrendered army still remained.
Lucian required immediate manpower capable of large-scale containment.
He chose demons. Copying a page from Rimuru's book.
Drawing on battlefield remnants—corpses, residual magic, and unused souls—Lucian constructed a summoning ritual. Typhon's authority over monsters reinforced the sacrifices, while Nomad's spatial control stabilized the summoning circle.
The ritual activated instantly.
Runes burned into the earth. The sky darkened. Magicules froze in place.
In the Demon Realm, every demon felt it.
This was not a call.
It was an order.
Even demons outside the realm stiffened instinctively as the summoning authority asserted itself.
Yet the summoning was limited. Only a finite amount of power could cross.
And among demons, only one class possessed the authority to respond unconditionally.
Four figures manifested.
Black.
White.
Yellow.
Purple.
Violet smiled, eyes gleaming with unmistakable enjoyment.
"Now then… which fucker decided they could command me?"
Yellow remained silent as nuclear magic condensed—only to be dismantled instantly by Saga, while Demon Lord's Haki flooded the area.
"A newly promoted Demon Lord," Blanc observed calmly. "That explains your need for demons."
"Pleasure to see you again, Lord Lucian," Noir said with a respectful inclination.
Lucian did not raise his voice.
"I am undergoing a Harvest Festival. I require you to capture and contain the surrendered army. Complete the task and I will grant you names if you wish. Refusal to the task will result in the destruction of your physical bodies."
There was no threat in his tone.
Only certainty.
Each Primordial reacted differently.
Noir's interest deepened—Lucian was an abnormal existence, a being acknowledged by Velzard and his numerous forms, which even before evolutions had been hard to dealt with.
Blanc analyzed the situation dispassionately, recognizing the systemic implications. Noir's attitude to the impressive willpower needed to stay calm and consciousness during his own Harvest Festival said a lot of Lucian.
Yellow reevaluated Lucian's threat level after witnessing the effortless nullification of her magic.
Violet smiled wider, savoring the dominance in his presence.
They accepted.
Next, Lucian turned his attention to everyone else undergoing evolution, guiding the process where necessary—either through direct soul corridors he had established, or, in Rimuru's case, through the carefully adjusted bond that still connected them via Typhon.
It was clear that Lucian was not forcing outcomes. Rather, he was stabilizing them—preventing collapse, smoothing divergences, ensuring that those who were not meant to awaken as Unique Skills would instead receive benefits aligned with their race while those who could handle a Unique Skill will get a suitable one. The Harvest Festival, after all, was gifting festival.
The effects of the Harvest Festival did not remain confined to the Cardinal World.
In the Underworld, Rias Gremory, Sona Sitri, and many members of their respective Peerages froze as the Voice of the World echoed directly within their souls. The sensation was unmistakable—an absolute authority brushing past their existence, indifferent to distance, realm, or allegiance.
At the same time, among the surrendered army, confusion spread.
Most soldiers did not understand what was happening. They felt pressure, heat, and vertigo, but lacked the knowledge to contextualize it. Merlin, however, understood immediately.
As a fallen Hero, she was familiar with Demon Lord Seeds and the legends surrounding their ascension into True Demon Lords. While she did not know the exact conditions required, she understood the pattern well enough: overwhelming accumulation, mass death, and the decisive conclusion of war.
And all three had occurred.
Across Tempest, racial evolutions began to propagate.
The Kijin underwent a decisive transformation, their existence rewriting itself into that of full-fledged Oni. Their bodies grew denser, their horns sharpened, and their spiritual presence deepened, anchoring them as spiritual lifeforms.
Hobgoblins diverged in multiple directions. Some evolved into advanced Goblin variants, while others—those with sufficient combat history and magical density—underwent the rarer evolution into Ogres, a leap that dramatically restructured both physique and magical capacity.
The Orcs, already hardened through survival and conflict, ascended into High Orcs, their bodies stabilizing under increased magical load, granting them greater endurance, strength, and resistance to external influence.
Alongside racial evolution came the awakening of Unique Skills.
Shion's soul crystallized into Unique Skill: Cook. Functionally, the skill allowed her will and intent to overwrite causality through preparation. The outcome of any action she performed after "preparing" it—especially cooking—was forcibly aligned with her desired result, regardless of logic or probability.
Shuna awakened Unique Skill: Manufacturer, granting ability to create her own unique magic by transmutation, fusion or sapration.
Benimaru acquired Unique Skill: Commander, a leadership-type ability that enhanced coordination, morale, and combat efficiency among subordinates under his command, scaling dynamically based on battlefield conditions.
Eve's evolution resulted in Unique Skill: Empiricist. This skill granted her the ability to test hypotheses directly through controlled experimentation, drastically reducing failure rates and allowing creative genetic and monster-based research to bypass conventional trial-and-error limitations.
Meanwhile, the Devils underwent evolution of a different nature.
Unlike monsters, whose evolution fundamentally altered their race, Devils operated under a rigid hierarchical system. Their evolution did not rewrite their species but advanced their class.
Mid Class Devils ascended into High Class Devils.
High Class Devils evolved into Noble Class Devils.
The change was subtle in appearance but profound in authority, mana capacity, and conceptual weight. Devils did not become something else—they became more of what they already were.
Among them, Rias Gremory awakened Unique Skill: Absorber. Functionally, the skill allowed her to absorb, stabilize, and store excess or unstable magicules within herself, releasing them later in controlled bursts. This skill synergized perfectly with her Intrinsic Skill, Power of Destruction, allowing her to mitigate its volatility.
Akeno Himejima gained Unique Skill: Power Dynamic. When acting under direct orders, her output could reach up to two hundred percent efficiency. Conversely, when acting independently, the skill allowed her to exert a force of dominance that imposed submission through pressure alone.
Koneko Toujou awakened Unique Skill: Transformer, enabling her to access her adult form freely without instability. The skill further enhanced transformation efficiency, allowing partial access to transformed abilities even while remaining in her base form.
Sona Sitri gained Unique Skill: Teacher. Through instruction, she could impart knowledge, techniques, and theory directly, while simultaneously refining her own understanding. Teaching became both dissemination and self-optimization.
Tsubaki Shinra awakened Unique Skill: Responder, a subtle but dangerous ability. When addressing a target lacking a clear internal answer to a question, her words would be accepted unconditionally as truth.
Lastly, Malia Tate gained Unique Skill: Eclipse Beast Transformation, vastly amplifying her Werecoyote transformation, enhancing physical abilities, sensory perception, and combat instincts far beyond her previous limits.
As Lucian continued stabilizing awakenings, the Primordial Demons moved to secure the surrendered army, executing their task with clinical efficiency. Their actions were coordinated through thought communication, requiring no further instruction.
As evening approached, Escanor's presence diminished noticeably. With his strength waning, command of the defeated army fell fully to Merlin.
And to Merlin, this realization was terrifying. Not the thought of getting commanding authority of course, rather what was happening around her.
Not because she feared for her life—but because she understood what this meant for the world.
They had attacked something that had been dormant. Something capable of deploying a True Dragon, summoning four Primordials, and undergoing a Harvest Festival without losing consciousness.
Four Primordials.
Nearly half of all known Primordial Demons.
And they obeyed him.
What had they stirred?
On the other side of the battlefield, the Voice of the World turned its full attention to Rimuru.
Acknowledged: Individual "Rimuru Tempest" has completed the requirements to Awaken as a Demon Lord.
Commencing Harvest Festival…
Her evolution accelerated.
Unique Skill: Great Sage has evolved into Ultimate Skill: Raphael – Lord of Wisdom.
Raphael assumed control immediately.
Requesting Evolution of Unique Skill: Devourer.
Unique Skill: Devourer has evolved into Unique Skill: Gluttony.
Requesting Evolution of Unique Skill: Gluttony.
Denied.
Raphael recalculated.
Request Assist from Ultimate Skill: Saga – Lord of Knowledge.
Saga supplied vast quantities of optimized data.
Abundance of Data Acquired.
Requesting Evolution of Unique Skill: Gluttony by Sacrificing Data.
Unique Skill: Gluttony has evolved into Ultimate Skill: Beelzebuth – Lord of Gluttony.
Requesting Evolution of Unique Skill: Dimension Bypass.
Denied.
Sacrificing Infinity Prison.
Unique Skill: Dimensional Bypass has evolved into Ultimate Skill: Uriel – Lord of Vows.
Coercing Racial Evolution from Slime → Demon Slime.
Raphael continued refining.
Assistance Received from Ultimate Skill: Saga – Lord of Knowledge.
Assistance Received from Ultimate Skill: Abhoth – God of Monsters.
Assistance in Evolution Route Modification Received.
Evolution Diverted to Primordial Slime Queen.
Coercing Racial Evolution from Slime → Primordial Slime Queen.
A brilliant blue light erupted from Rimuru's cocoon, flooding the battlefield with pressure that eclipsed even her earlier presence.
With the combined efforts of Raphael and Saga, Rimuru's evolution surpassed conventional limits.
The Harvest Festival neared its conclusion.
And the Demons watched.
A/n: I don't remember if I've said it before but Ultimate Class Devils are called Noble Class devils here to not cause confusion between Ultimate Skill and Ultimate Class.