WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 44 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, "On This Land Where it All Happened," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
With Walpurgis, the meeting of Demon Lords, set to begin in Reincarnated as a Slime, the newest True Demon Lord -- Rimuru -- prepares to barge in on the proceedings and take Clayman down at last. In the meantime, the two fight a proxy battle with their armies, and Rimuru's top agent, Benimaru, leads his forces to a certain victory.
However, the Dragon Faithful warriors, loyal to Milim, can see that Clayman's army has no chance of winning, and lose any reason to lay their lives down for Clayman. Clayman's manipulation fails to keep his joint army together and, after Episode 44, he may lose Milim next.
Episode 44 opens on Clayman's 30,000-strong army marching into Eurazania and straight into Benimaru and Geld's trap, giving Benimaru's side an overwhelming advantage. During the battle, Yamza engages Albis in a duel, and Father Middray of the Dragon Faithful clashes with Suphia of the Beastketeers. Notably, Middray only uses non-lethal moves on Suphia, proving his superior strength while not dealing serious injuries to his opponent. Impressed, Suphia asks about the Dragon Faithful, and learns that these servants of Milim are Dragonewts, the descendants of both dragons and humans. They serve Milim faithfully, and through Milim's enslavement to Clayman, indirectly support Clayman as well.
Elsewhere, Yamza mutates into a fragment of Charybdis, which Benimaru destroys single-handedly and then moves on to confront the Dragon Faithful. Benimaru knows that Middray and his companion Hermes have been tormenting the Beastketeers and Gabiru's men, and draws his sword to fight Middray. Suphia and Gabiru intervene, explaining that the two sides already called a cease-fire, and they intend to unite against the Charybdis fragment. Middray's clerics even heal Gabiru and his men to that end. Mutual respect proves stronger than bloodlust among all parties, and even Benimaru stands down, recognizing that the Dragon Faithful are not true enemies.
The politics of Slime prove time and again that mutual cooperation, respect and partnership always trump war and hate, steadily putting factions like the Holy Western Church into the minority. Rimuru and his followers can persuade nearly any other kingdom or army to join forces with them, including former enemies like Thalion and the Armed Nation of Dwargo, thanks to Rimuru's steadfast emphasis on diplomacy. Benimaru and Father Middray understand this, and they become allies out of mutual respect for each other and a mutual fear of Milim's enormous power.
Demon Lord Clayman intended to use Milim and her followers to crush Rimuru and Carrion, but Milim's army switches side thanks to diplomacy. This suggests that Rimuru and Shion will successfully free Milim of her mind control necklace, and allow her to oppose Clayman of her own will. Clayman gets ahead only through manipulation and control, and that cruel strategy is already falling apart. If Walpurgis proceeds similarly to the battle for Eurazania, Clayman's reign has only hours left before it's history.
