Story sequence
Rimuru and Ciel return to the Tokyo street attack after the event that triggered reincarnation. They do not stop the entire Tempest history by preventing the soul's departure before it occurs; instead, they work with the already-completed transfer and the recoverable Earth-side body.
A parallel or substitute core carrying Satoru/Rimuru information is placed into the restored body. This allows Satoru Mikami to awaken in Japan while the main Rimuru continues in the Cardinal World as the person shaped by every event in Tempest.
Earth-side Satoru retains access to the story and can tell Tamura what happened in the form that gives the series its title: the account of the time he was reincarnated as a slime. The structure is closer to two continuing expressions than to Rimuru abandoning Tempest and permanently becoming an ordinary human again.
The ending therefore closes the narrative circle without making the adventure a dream. The body in Japan is restored through late-series mechanics—information, parallel existence, soul continuity, and targeted spacetime crossing—established by Velgrynd, Ciel, and the end-of-space-time exile.
Motivations
- Rimuru wants to repair the loss suffered by his former life while keeping faith with the life and people of Tempest.
- Ciel wants continuity on both sides rather than an either-or choice between Satoru and Rimuru.
Outcome
Satoru Mikami awakens in Japan with the tale of Rimuru's journey, while Rimuru Tempest continues in the other world.
Consequences
- The title becomes an in-world story Satoru can recount.
- The former-life world is now explicitly connected to Tempest through controlled time and world travel.
The final act does not reject reincarnation; it shows that Rimuru has become capable of honoring both lives without reducing either one to a copy.