Rimuru POV

I ran through an unfamiliar hallway, searching for somewhere I could escape. Behind me, I heard a few running footsteps, calling a distorted name, but I kept running until I arrived at a garden, the moonlight shining down on me as I finally slowed to catch my breath when I lost the people chasing me.

"Okay, Old Timer... I don't think they can find us here for now. Where should we go...?" I suddenly spoke in an unfamiliar voice

{...}

"What? No, we can't do that! Don't be stupid! I won't let you!" I responded to the silent voice in my head as if someone had spoken to me

{...? ...}

"I know, I know! But you saw them! Something is too fishy with this place! Staying here any longer will implicate the both of us!" I whispered harshly

{...!}

I let out a gasp as I hear a click behind me. Turning my head, I feel a cold metal pressing on my forehead. A shadowed man is holding this gun and was ready to shoot.

"Tch! So you found me? What? Are you trying to 'save' this girl too, huh? Let me tell you, it's too late. Now this body of hers belongs to me! Do you really think you can take it back without killing her? Come on then!" I taunted the man 

Despite being unable to see the man's face, I could somehow feel the cold glare on his face as he was challenged to shoot. Hearing the clicking of the gun again, I knew he was not going to hesitate.

I need to run now before-

{...!}

Suddenly, a throbbing headache hits me and I winced in pain, holding my head in both hands.

"What are you...?! Stop it...! Stop...! Do you really think I will let you...?! You...!" I yelled out at the voice in my head

Then I could finally hear a clear, resolute voice, {I'm sorry, Senti. I will use whatever power I have to convert your consciousness into a feather, but you have to forget for now. Forget about me, about us. You must go to that place.}

What place? Wait, what are you doing?!

{I'm very sorry.}

I could hear the rattling of chains before they shattered. My mind blanks out and I was left to drift. There was nothing here.

What was I doing? Who am I? What am I...? What is...? There's an odd warmth.

In front of this nothingness, there was a single light shining and I reached my hand out to it.

Just a little more...

...

"Hey! Wake up!"

Due to someone very roughly shaking me, my eyes finally snapped open and I let out a gasp when I finally woke up, back in my own body. In front of me was the person that shook me. Her appearance...

"Hua? No... You are... Senti?" I noted, narrowing my eyes at her

Her eyes widened as she asked me an odd question, "'Senti'? What a weird name. But hey, you actually know me?"

I nod. She looked exactly the same in Mei's memories. She scratched the back of her head in frustration before finally turning back.

"Never mind, we will talk about that later. Right now, I have to win against that."

I looked over to see the entity from before. Although it was cloaked in black, there were some recognizable features that belonged to Senti.

"So that's your body, huh? Will you be okay fighting it?" I asked

"Hah! Who do you think I am?! I'm..." She hesitates, seemingly trying to find words as she held her head, "I'm... I'm... Who am I...?"

Wait a minute. She really doesn't remember anything?

"I can only briefly tell you this, but you are the Herrscher of Sentience or Senti, for short. You were born within a vessel called 'Fu Hua'. Does that name ring any bells?" I asked

"Fu... Hua...? No, nothing... But hearing the name... gives me a feeling of anxiety..." She grunted out

Anxiety? Then my dream... was that not a dream, but...

"Ah...! Incoming!" I gasped out

She snapped her head to the entity as it shot out swords at us and Senti deflected them all with her own sword before I could launch a shield to block the attack.

Wow, despite not remembering much, she can still fight really well!

Clicking her tongue, Senti turns to me, "Just stay back, okay?! I can't protect you while fighting that thing!"

She charged forward before I could give her any response and the two clashed. I took note of our surroundings, seemingly to be a domain. There were giant swords and chains strewn everywhere. It was most likely a domain of sentience. I looked back at the fight. Since they were one and the same, they were predictably using the same attacks. However, I can't help but notice that Senti seems... off.

<Notice. No Herrscher core is found in the main body and consciousness of the Herrscher of Sentience.>

What?! But that's not possible! Unless...

<It may be inside the vessel. Unable to trace it.>

I have to do something... What will happen if she loses?

<The main body will merge with the weakened consciousness, posing a greater danger.>

... Raphael-san, how much Arcadia Honkai energy do I still have?

<15% of the energy has been expended to keep those trapped in the subspaces safe. 85% is still left.>

... Huh, the drainage was less than I expected. It's actually more than enough to provide for Senti.

"Senti! I'll give you strength!" I shouted to her

"I told you I don't need any help! You take care of yourself!" She yelled back as she quickly parried a spear attack, "Just keep still, would you?!"

Despite her saying all that to assure me, she was most obviously struggling. I sighed and charged forward, launching <Absolute Defense> in order to separate them while I confronted Senti.

"Hey! Don't interfere!"

"But at this rate, you will be absorbed by your own body!" I let out a breath and went up to her, "I need you to answer me honestly, Senti. Your eyes... Why is it that when I look at them, they seem to be hurting?"

She clicks her tongue, "Hurting? What nonsense is that?! I am the Great Herrscher of Sentience, aren't I?! How can I be hurting?!"

"Because someone you care about and cannot remember may be in trouble. You are beating yourself up for not being able to do anything, isn't that right? Your only memory of them was being ripped apart from their body, losing your only connection to them." I explained, using the dream that I had to tell her this

She grits her teeth out of frustration with widened eyes, pushing me away, "Shut up, shut up! Why do none of you listen to me?! None of this would have happened if you all had just listened!"

I released a portion of <Demon Lord Haki> to keep her emotions in check, "Calm down, Senti!"

"How do I 'calm down'?! I admit it! I feel useless! She didn't listen to me! If I had been stronger, then she wouldn't have needed to do this! I know! I get it! She was just protecting me! But who is going to protect her?! I can't even remember her now!" She finally ranted out, holding her head in her hands again as I knelt beside her

It also worries me to know that there's an enemy this strong out there with Hua possibly... No, if Senti is here safe and sound, that means that Hua is still safe too. Hua must have sent her here when she realized that Senti's life could be in danger. If so, then Hua figured something out about Tempest but chose not to come here with Senti. If so, why? ... I can't think about something I still can't be clear of. Instead, what's happening in the present is most important right now.

"Then I can help you. The first thing you need to do now is to defeat your own body and reclaim it. Your negative emotions might be the thing that's keeping it moving like this and it's trying to defeat you for the same reason that you spoke about. In other words, it's like a shadow, your dark inner self."

She lets out a pained chuckle after a few moments, "You say the weirdest things... Fine, fine, I get it... Better to finish it now then... I am... a Herrscher, after all."

Suddenly, a ball of energy appears on her opened left hand as chains wrapped around it. Looking in front of us, her main body was gone, and I finally saw it trapped in the ball.

"Grip of Emptiness!"

Closing her hand on the ball of energy, it breaks apart, damaging everything trapped inside it.

Wow...

"Heh! Don't think an entity with a body can beat the Herrscher of Sentience, a Herrscher that controls the domain of sentience itself!" She grinned victoriously, seemingly having grasped her power already

Then, her body reappears and was predictably motionless as we made our way toward it.

How does it look, Raphael-san?

<Answer. Remnants of corruptive old Honkai energy remain. There is still a 40% chance of her consciousness becoming tainted.>

"Ugh, this is no good. It's too tainted for me to return to..." Senti grumbled under her breath

"So you can return to it if the taint is removed?" I asked

"I guess... This is gonna be tou-"

Before she finished her sentence, I purified her body with the Arcadia Honkai energy easily and turned to her with a small smile, her mouth agape.

"There!"

"Y... You..." She barely manages to stammer out, "... Who... Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Demon Lord Rimuru Tempest!"

She shakes her head in disbelief, "A Demon Lord...? No, no! What the hell was that?! Can Demon Lords even use this... this... 'holy-type' magic?!"

I gave her words a thought before explaining, "Well... I have another identity. Like you, I am a Herrscher, or rather, I'm this world's very first Primordial Herrscher. To every other Herrschers, including you, I am supposed to be a Queen or Mother to you all."

"M-Mother?!"

"Yeah... Since I can 'birth' Herrschers according to my will and skills. But you were born under different circumstances and did not come under my Authority yet. I want to take you under my Authority to keep you safe, but..." I hesitated, looking into her eyes, "... It's your choice, honestly. You currently have nowhere to go, and neither do you have proper memories, right? I can provide you with food, clothing, and housing, but my nation's rule for everyone is to work to get what you need. Of course, I still encourage rest periods."

She grumbled something under her breath, scratching her head, "... Aren't you a bit too trusting of others?"

"Am I? I just like to have more friends! I was once called 'Meddlesome Elysia', after all! Oh, but keep that a secret from others outside of the country." I quickly told her

She then looked at me with wide eyes, "Ely... sia? Elysia... Where... Ah...! I think... she knows you..."

"Who? Your vessel?" I asked

"Don't call her that!" She snapped at me before looking a little sheepish at her outburst, "Sorry... I guess there was no better way to call her since I couldn't remember her, huh? You said 'Fu Hua' before, so let's just go with that. Yes, some memories are still clear to me. She mentions your name fondly plenty of times. You seemed to be important to her."

I was a little surprised by her words, "Ah..."

"But if that's the case, then..." She hums in thought before nodding to me, "... Fine, I'll take your offer! Until I regain my memories and help her out, I will stay in your nation!"

"Happy to hear that! Then I should give you this..." I said, holding up a new Herrscher core, "And a name for you! I can't be calling you Herrscher of Sentience now, but Senti-chan is such a cute name~"

"Stop, stop, stop, stop! Stop right there! 'Senti-chan' sounds superfluous! Give me a better name at least!" She complains with an unamused tone

"Aw~ That's too bad. I'll just call you 'Senti-chan' as a nickname then!" I giggled, ignoring her protests, and tried to think of a name for her, "Then... I think Fu Hua was a guardian of Shenzhou, according to Mei's memories... Let's go with a name that sounds native to Shenzhou! Let's see... 'Feiyun'. 'Fei 飞' means to be able to fly or soar and 'Yun 云' is a term for clouds. You are a free bird that can soar to great heights. From now on, your name will be Feiyun!"

Putting her complaints aside, she thinks about the name and grins, "Not bad. Hah! I actually like that. Hey, what the-"

My magicules were immediately given to her after my naming ceremony as she, along with her body, was wrapped in a cocoon of evolution and the Herrscher core floated into the cocoon. When the evolution ended, her appearance did not change much and her clothes still bore similarities to her previous Herrscher form with only the colors changing from black and silver to white and silver.

That was probably my influence, but she is quite resistant to change, huh?

Although her appearance remained the same, the magicules in her body had obviously grown and the Herrscher core I had given her is already a part of herself.

"So noisy... What is this voice in my head? ... Skills? Races... Huh?! Wait, so I'm..." She gasped out, probably listening to Miss Voice of the World, "... Hey, not bad! I really am liking this! My body is full of energy! Haha!"

"Well, I'm glad you're already used to the new body and Herrscher core! So should we call you the Herrscher of Sentience or... Primordial Herrscher Zwei, Herrscher of Cognizance?" I asked, looking at her grinning face

She waves my question off, "Either one is fine! The Herrscher power is about the same anyway!", she then looks at me and then herself, giving me a cheeky grin, "Hey, I wanna test this power out. Who else could be a better opponent than the 'Queen' herself?"

Feiyun raises her hand and curls her fingers in a taunting motion, taking up her battle stance.

"Eh? Wait a minute! I still have to return-"

She scoffs, "It's just a few minutes! With all this energy pumping in my body, I feel like I can't stop until I hit something!"

Ah... So she's on power adrenaline... What do you think, Raphael-san?

<Answer. Allowing the individual Feiyun to release the pent-up energy inside her would give her emotional stability.>

Oh, so she still has some stress and she needs to relieve it somehow. Right... Now that I think about it, from Mei's memories, the Herrscher of Sentience seems to like taking her frustrations out by fighting. Then I guess I can indulge her for a few minutes. 

I finally gave Feiyun a smile and took up a battle stance, not bringing out any weapons but instead letting my Herrscher energy run free in the domain. Seeing this, a wild smirk is now on her face.

"Let's go then!"

...

Third Person POV

Back in the conference room, only five minutes had gone by since Rimuru flew into the portal. Veldora could not communicate with her through the Soul Corridor, thus, now in a small panic, he was questioning Iris about the situation while she tried to keep him calm. The others in the room were reluctant to talk to the dragon, not knowing what he would do if they said the wrong things, even Elmesia was hesitant in front of the True Dragon. Behind them, a panicked Shion was similarly being talked to by Rigurd and Mjollmile.

"I already said this before. There is no problem. She will contact us with the feather and we can reopen the portal. You must keep yourself calm." Iris repeated to him for the umpteenth time in those five minutes

"But this is Rimuru, you know?! She should have settled the business by now, right?! So what's taking her so long?!" Veldora questioned continuously, much to her annoyance

"It's only been five minutes. She must be doing something else to bring the others out too, thus the delay in contacting us. Please stop worrying for now. I assure you that she is safe." Iris sighed as she felt for Rimuru's Herrscher core again, feeling its faint aura despite them being in separate spaces

Suddenly, the presence of the Signets returned all at once and Iris turns to the door. When it finally opened, the executives and Flame-chasers, who were once trapped in the subspace, had returned. 

"Benimaru-sama!"

"Wait, the meeting has already started? We were that late? Maybe we shouldn't have overstayed in there..." Mobius mumbled in thought 

Veldora turned to them, "You guys are back? But where's Rimuru? Was she with you guys?!" 

Though they tried to pretend that nothing had happened, it was evident that Veldora's panic was telling them another story. They finally realized that one particular occupant in the room was missing.

"I thought she needed to remain here. What happened?" Sakura asked

"She flew into a portal I opened while trying to escape when that thing chased after us." Pardofelis explained to them

"Wait, so it was you! How did you even end up inside there?!" Mobius exclaimed before realizing what she had just heard, "Did you say that she flew in?!"

"Y-Yeah!"

"B...But the subspace... We barely escaped while it was collapsing! Rimuru-sama was inside?!" Benimaru exclaimed

Veldora's eyes widened, "What did you say?!"

But before he could go into any sort of rage, a portal opened behind the empty head seat and their attention turned to it. After a few moments of waiting, Rimuru finally stepped out of it, looking like she normally was.

"Oh! We are actually back!" She smiled cheerily, turning back to the portal, "It worked!"

"Of course it did! Who do you think I am?" A voice scoffed as Feiyun stepped out of the portal, not looking as fine as Rimuru was

Her clothes were dusty and disheveled, and her hair was a little messy as well. She closed the portal and looked around the room.

"Hey, why are they all staring?" She questioned with an unamused expression

Rimuru hummed and shrugged, "I don't know."

Shion and Veldora were the first to snap out of their stupor, grabbing Rimuru tightly and checking on her.

"Are you alright, Rimuru?! I couldn't even communicate with you! Do you know how worried everyone was?!" Veldora complained, giving her a thorough check using his skills

"Rimuru-sama! Don't do that again!" Shion cried out

Rimuru looked at both with a confused expression, "Huh? Uh, okay!"

"How did you escape? The place was shaking and collapsing when we were escaping." Aponia questioned, being the only calm one in the group

"Huh? Collapsing? Shaking?" Rimuru blinked in confusion as she made eye contact with Feiyun, "Was that happening on our side?"

Feiyun shrugged her shoulders, "No, I'm the one controlling that place, so I can assure you that it was most definitely not collapsing."

Due to her words, the room's tension grew as a few killing intents was felt directed at Feiyun. She clicked her tongue, giving Benimaru and the others a glare.

"You looking for a fight?"

"Ah! Hey, hey, hey! Everyone, calm down!" Rimuru quickly interjected, trying to ease the tension in the room, "She's friendly, okay? They are just panicking about the supposed collapse. Was it your shadow's doing then?"

Feiyun glanced at her, giving her words some thought before her eyes flickered in realization, giving Rimuru a slightly annoyed look.

"I remember now! You did that!" She finally exclaimed, tugging at her slightly disheveled attire, "Sure, I asked for a fight! But you didn't have to blast me with that huge attack! Thanks to that, you shook up my entire domain! That's how I even ended up looking like this, you know!"

Hearing this, Rimuru thought about her words with a hum and finally remembered what had transpired.

"Oh, right! I actually did something like that!" She recalled with a wide grin

"Aren't you a bit too relaxed about that?! If you didn't hold back, I would've been blown to bits!" Feiyun complained

Mobius slaps a palm on her forehead, "In other words, the 'collapsing' we experienced was actually a shockwave of Rimuru-sama's attack. A friendly attack, I might add..."

Sakura lets out a grunt, "A... Ah..."

"... Was it a good idea to have said that aloud...?" Souei quietly questioned

Finally recalling that they were in the conference hall, there was an awkward air as Rimuru finally managed to wiggle out of Veldora and Shion's grasp and sat down at her seat.

"Sorry for the wait, everyone... The rest of you, please take your seats first." Rimuru quickly instructed, trying to return everything to order

Iris took her place beside Rimuru while she communicated to Diablo as he returned the moment she told him that everything was settled.

"You can stay quietly by Iris's side first, Feiyun. We'll talk about what to do later. Or if you don't want to stay, you can always wait in the next room." Rimuru suggested

Feiyun shakes her head, "I have nothing better to do, so I'll stay."

Rimuru nods, returning her attention to the meeting.

"Uh... So, where were we...?"

The rulers and representatives were all in awkward silence but decided to just continue the meeting as normally as they could now that the executives have finally returned.

"""Nothing's normal in this nation..."""

.

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Current status

[Name: Feiyun (EP: 836,648 (+ "Keys of Oblivion" 870,000 + "Fenghuang Pinions" 530,000))

Race: Phoenix, Primordial Herrscher

Title: Primordial Herrscher Zwei (Herrscher of Cognizance)

Magic/Arts: <Physical Enhancement Magic>, <Illusion Magic>, <Edge of Taixuan>

Skill: Unique Skill "Deceiver" - With her Herrscher powers, Feiyun can pull a target into a realm of cognition or sentience. Unless they carry an Ultimate Skill or resistance to mental attacks, the target's mind would be under her control due to her power's nature.

Intrinsic Skills: <Magic Perception>, <Phoenix Eyes>, <Herrscher Release>

Resistance: Physical Attack Resistance, Mental Attack Resistance, Thermal Fluctuation Resistance]