Huh. Where am I. I don't really remember any—
HOLY SHIIIIT!!!!
I immediately got up and scanned my surroundings to see where I was.
???: 「I expected you to scream before waking up.」
Huh, where'd that angelic voice come from.
As I turned my head to look, I spotted someone I was very familiar with.
Sariel: 「Ah! It's Lunax.」
Registering her words in my mind, I began to blush immensely in embarrassment.
Sariel: 「Uuum. Please don't tell anyone about it.」
Lunax: 「Only Lord Veldanava and I know about it.」
You know if he knows about it, then I don't mind telling the whole world.
*Sigh*
Sage-san, you there.
「Answer. Yes.」
I see. Well, I guess I'm in the Heavenly Star Palace since she's the one taking care of me.
Lunax: 「My Lord said I should bring you with me after you finished resting.」
Sariel: 「..... Okay.」
We walked through the door, and I met Veldanava.
He was watching a strange golden orb.
It seems that it is what he uses to stalk people from afar.
Sariel: 「You know, stalking people is not what I expected from a God.」
Veldanava: 「Why don't you guys get it…? You can't call this stalking.」
Sariel: 「Ah yes. I would call it an invasion of privacy.」
Veldanava: 「Just forget it. You'd never understand what it means.」
Sariel: 「Yeah, yeah. Stupid lame-ass excuses. Anyway, what did yah need me for?」
Veldanava: 「*Sigh*. I wanted to tell you congratulations on your victory against the Mad Titan God.」
Sariel: 「Really? Cool. See ya!」
Veldanava: 「Oi! Hold on for a second. Where do you think you're going to? I have a few important things for you.」
Sariel: 「What is it?」
Veldanava: 「The body you wanted has been prepared.」
Sariel: 「Really?! Thanks, bro! I just can't wait for the day to steal the spotlight.」
Veldanava: 「Steal the what now—? Sariel, are you planning to use this body to perhaps steal something important?」
Huh?
Sariel: 「Seriously man, you're so uncultured! Guess I'm gonna have to teach you the ways of a true otaku.」
Veldanava: 「You're really weird, you know? Anyway, I was really impressed with your victory.
You managed to kill Dagruel and his brothers in their trinity form.
Dagruel, on his own, is already strong enough to defeat most of the primordials quite easily, but you were still able to kill him. I had it in mind to train you a little, but I believe it is better to leave you to your own device.」
Sariel: 「You say that, but the only reason I survived is because of my fighting style. The way I fight has to do with matching my opponent's strength and fighting them on equal terms.
Even if my opponent is way strong for me to fight, I would adapt to their strength and the way they fought and fight them to draw before finding a way to overpower them.
Plus, he didn't have an ultimate skill that allowed him to outright ignore the power of a unique skill.
I also needed the help of millions of demon's faith to assist me in that last attack. The odds were just against him.」
Veldanava: 「You say so, but it is still impressive no matter. It makes me happy to see that you are taking your job seriously.」
Sariel: 「*Sigh*. Sure thing, man. Also, I don't remember having Dagruel in my "people who became history" list. So, what's the catch?」
Veldanava: 「Oh! I forgot to mention it to you, but I sorta healed Ashura.」
Sariel: 「Hm…?—Okay.」
Veldanava: 「...Wow. That's better than expected. I thought you would throw a tantrum and say something along the lines of-」
Sariel: 「ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?!」
This dude. What did he just let out…?
Veldanava: 「Oh come on. You should trust me more than this. After I named them, two of them-」
With just those few words, I had lost all sense of rationality.
Sariel: 「YOU FUCKING NAMED THEM!?!?! YOU-」
Veldanava: 「'I'm not gonna hear the end of it am I?'」
Sariel: 「-FUCKING PRICK!! STUPID ASSHOLE!! USELESS BASKET!! TACTLESS STATUE!!」
I had proceeded to pour my heart out. Literally.
◇◇◇
Feldway: 「Tch. That bastard…」
Zalario: 「There is no reason for you to resent him, Feldway. It will only serve to annoy Lord Veldanava.」
Pico: 「Yeah. I don't know what you have against 'em, but you should just forget about it.」
A particularly rare meeting ensued between the primordials of heaven.
Seven primordial angels, to be exact.
These figures were the progenitors of all angels.
Born from the Great Holy Spirit of Light, they were the counterparts to the primordial demons.
Dino: 「Did you guys seriously wake me up for that?
In that case, I'll just go ahead and continue my short nap.」
As soon as he said that, he started walking away.
Cornu: 「Your "short naps" are never short.」
Cornu spoke with an exaggerated tone.
Gracia: 「Do you even make an effort to be useful for once in your life?」
Gracia looked at Dino with a scornful expression. Displaying her dissatisfaction with her colleagues' behavior.
Dino: 「Ouch..... *Snore*....」
Without a care in the world, Dino fell asleep whilst standing.
Gracia: 「Im-Impressive…」
Pico: 「Are you kidding me? He just.....」
Obera: 「Let him be. That's the least of our concerns. Back to the topic, Lord Veldanava has made it clear that the silver primordial is his close friend.
I don't personally have a problem with him. Although the power he wields is concerning, we are in no position to judge him.」
Cornu: 「Yeah. The worst part is that he has yet to reach his final evolutionary stage.」
Feldway: 「A concerning matter has arrived, apparently. Our Lord has been preparing a new and powerful body specifically for him.
That body… I have no read on it, but if I knew better, I'd say it is about as powerful as mine or even better.
I sense Lord Veldanava's presence within that form, so it is theoretically safe to assume that it possesses our Lord's draconic factor.
What I am curious about, though, is what our Lord intends to do by taking auch reckless actions…」
Naturally, all but Dino turned to look at him in disbelief.
All except Dino, who proceeded to fall down to the ground and continue sleeping.
Cornu: 「W-WHAT?! I didn't hear anything about that!」
Pico: 「Seriously!? That… That's cheating. It seems like this Sariel guy is someone our Lord cherishes very much.
I'm kinda jealous, to be honest. Lucky bastard…」
Here I was, being wary of his strength. It's all beyond me, I think.
This was Obera's genuine thought.
If anything, it would be better to have him as an ally. That would benefit us in the long run.
Rather than becoming enemies with powerful beings and creating unnecessary, resolvable conflicts, Obera thought it better to have neutral ties with them.
If one could avoid problems, they would definitely avoid them.
It wasn't even necessary to have them as an ally in the first place if all that would lead to was disharmony.
Zalario: 「No matter how shocking it is, there is nothing we can do about it. So throw it aside.
Let us simply follow our Lord's will, and I believe all will be well. Isn't that how it has always been like?」
Zalario, ever the cool-headed one, remarked.
He shrugged it off as his Lord being the ever mysterious person that he always knew.
Veldanava was a perfectionist, so to him, he would trade that for nothing in the world.
He believed that his Lord always knew what he was doing, so he never actually bothered about the case to begin with.
Feldway: 「That makes it even more annoying.」
However, Feldway didn't take the idea lightly.
He had always egged Veldanava on for his perfect response to arising issues, but this was the first time he felt discontent with Veldanava's action.
It just doesn't feel right. Someone he met for only a few days…
For Feldway, it was an unbelievable turn of events.
A demon had never been allowed to enter the palace, but this sacred law was simply swatted aside.
To Feldway, it was a huge taboo. But alas, none of that mattered to Veldanava.
Feldway: 「Tch. I can already see him wearing a stupid smug face.」
He spoke disdainfully.
Feldway: 「I swear—the next time I see that shit-eating grin on his stupid face again, I'll—!」
???: 「—You really can't get him off your head, can you?」
A mysterious voice was heard, and all of them turned instinctively to look at the intruder who just appeared.
Gracia: 「Norana?」
Norana, the ninth primordial angel under Veldanava, was also among the strongest of primordials.
Her feats were unknown to most, but she wasn't to be underestimated.
Norana: 「Come on Feldway, just forget about him. As much as I want to meet him, I have more important things to do.
The same goes for all of us; you too, Feldway.」
Realizing how hateful he acted, he figured it was about time to shrug it off.
Feldway: 「*Sigh*. Fine.」
After saying that, Feldway disappeared.
Obera: 「*Sigh*. Thanks for the save. I don't think I could've handled him.」
Norana: 「No need. But I'm also interested in this Sariel guy.
If he was able to defeat the mad giant, I wonder how strong he'll be. Heh-heh-heh…」
She says this with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Gracia: 「*Sigh*. Not you too—...you know what, just forget it. 」
◇◇◇
Sariel: 「So you divided them into three separate individuals? Even if you wanted him to clean up his mess, did you really need to revive him?
You could've just sent one of your subordinates to handle the matter.」
I'm still confused. Why waste your time and strength to revive him when you have subordinates that can do the work for you.
Veldanava: 「Each of those angels have an important role to play in the world, so I can't just dump all the work on them.
Besides, your attack wasn't strong enough to destroy his astral body and soul, so he would've revived either way.
It would've taken a lot of years to amass all that excess energy to remake himself, so I brought them to my side by shortening the time gap with the excuse of feeling pity.
It is just a strategic plan to have someone other than the angels guard the Heavens Tower.」
Wow. If only he always acted this responsible.
Sariel: 「So you made them in charge of the land at the west.
Oh, you said that "Fenn" refused your offer.」
He is the youngest among the three, according to what Velda said.
Must've been a pain in the ass to deal with.
Veldanava: 「Yeah. That's why I sealed him in that land and gave them a role of guarding his seal. That place is called "Heavens Tower."」
Sariel: 「*Sigh*. I can already see that one giving me a headache in the future.」
Veldanava: 「Come on Sariel. You're such a worrywart.」
Sariel: 「And you're such a careless brat.」
I don't know what I'll do with this brute.
Veldanava: 「Ouch.」
Sariel: 「I know. The truth hurts, right?」
Veldanava: 「Well, I have something for you. Here you go.」
He removed something from his personal space, and what I saw made me open my mouth wide.
Sariel: 「N-No way. Is that–」
Without getting to finish my sentence, he interrupted me.
Veldanava: 「Yep. Your new body.」
Wow. This is a masterpiece! I give it a chef kiss. This is really amazing.
I never expected it to turn out like this.
The body Velda proceeded to make for me was beyond perfect.
Offensive power, check!
Durability, check!
Resistances, check!
Design, check!
Last but not least
Sexiness....., DOUBLE-CHECK!!
I can't imagine myself possessing such a perfectly crafted piece of art.
The body he made for me looked hot as fuck.
My self-esteem rose up thousands of times after seeing this body.
Veldanava: 「I have every right to brag about it, right?」
For once, I'll just praise him.
He deserves it.
Sariel: 「Yeah. Taking up your proposal was definitely worth it.」
Veldanava: 「Well it is a body I created with my personal energy called stardust energy.
This energy is immensely powerful, second only to turn null energy.」
He went on to explain about turn null and stardust.
Turn null or Imaginary Collapse is the ultimate destructive energy.
Veldanava initially had the Imaginary Collapse energy.
According to him, he used it to create the world and subsequently lost it due to lacking an appropriate storage for the energy it produces.
I have no idea how to get it, but I'll leave that to the future.
Stardust, too, is a miraculous substance with a myriad of special properties.
It possesses destructive power beyond that of spiritrons and a special nature that makes it impossible to control or counteract unless its nature is fully analyzed and understood, or one has the factor of Star King Dragon Veldanava.
He said that he placed a part of his dragon factor in the body he created for me, so I had access to it only when I used the body.
Also, he said that the body was the second Genesis grade material to ever exist as his own body was the first.
Apparently, genesis grade is a grade above mythical grade material, but it is not known to anyone.
Even his closest subordinates have no idea about it. As a result, he told me to keep it a secret.
The quality of these materials is vastly superior to even the highest of mythic grade materials.
He mentioned to me about his plan to create nine Genesis grade weapons for his primordial angels.
With this, anything else could be dealt with.
I figured it out. The ulterior motive.
He simply wanted them to be strong enough to handle any problem requiring power.
With that, he'd be free from his duties, free to slack off.
This dude…
I was at a loss for words.
He'd rather spend a whole year in pain than have it fairly easy for life.
Seriously? I'm starting to think he's far lazier than I could ever hope to be.
In the end, he requested my presence for when the time for the weapon creation arrived.
What a pain…
Well, if that body of mine was made using the materials he would use to make the Genesis grade weapons, then it must be as strong as one.
That's actually more appreciated.
If two Genesis grade weapon users ended up in a do-or-die battle, it's either one party flees or one dies.
There would be nothing like a draw or tie. It is not overly impossible to pull out a tie, but the odds are just so slim.
If my body was strong enough to resist collapse under the might of these monstrosities, then it would be a simple thing to have an attack capable of ending the wielder of this weapon, so yeah.
After all, it wasn't particularly easy to make a defense mechanism powerful enough to resist the might of these weapons.
But damn, if these angels were having such powerful weapons at their disposal, they'd wind up become forces of catastrophe.
I guess slacking off is out of the option for me.
But something struck me as odd.
I was confused at his stardust explanation.
Now that I think about it, he did mention "Star King Dragon" in his first introduction.
I don't even know what that means.
Sariel: 「Hey Velda. Why do you always call yourselves in the star king dragon?」
Veldanava: 「*Sigh*. I forgot to mention it to you, didn't I? Well, I'm actually a dragon.」
Sariel: 「.... What am I to you, a toddler? No way in hell am I believing that shit.」
Veldanava: 「Well, seeing is believing.」
After he said that, he began to morph into... a..... FUCKING DRAGON!!?
Sariel: 「What the hell man!?」
Veldanava: 「Heh. Told ya.」
He had cyan scales all over his body.
His eyes were now golden colour, and it shone brightly, giving off a divine glow.
He had a few spikes or whatever protuding out of his body and large wings that were big enough to cover an entire mountain.
Sariel: 「I am definitely riding you one day. But is this the avatar you created when you relinquished your power?」
Veldanava: 「Yeah.」
Sariel: 「Well, you made the best choice.」
Veldanava: 「Heh.」
Sariel: 「Oi. Don't get ahead of yourself.」
He had the tendency to take little praises to his head.
Something I needed to stop soon because why not.
After giving me a few tips on how to use the body, I asked Sage-san to analyse it.
Again, it would've been impossible to do so without Veldanava's concent.
I could feel Sage-san's excitement upon getting a new toy to play with.
I really have weird companions, but I'm happy to have them by my side.
Sariel: 「So uuum.... what do I do with the body?」
Veldanava: 「Oh? You could just put it in that sub-dimension of yours. Oh, but I'll recommend you to store it in that soul dimension you got there.」
So he even knew some of my skills.
Fucking God.
Heeding his words, I used 『Life Predation』to absorb the body into my 『Soul Storage』. The result was-
VOTW: 「Conditions have been met. The unique skill 『Soul King』has further evolved into the unique skill 『Soul Lord』.」
......The hell?
I did't even know that something like this could happen.
Veldanava: 「Hm? Interesting...」
Did this shit head just use me as a lab rat?
Veldanava: 「You know, the amount of insults you've hurdled my way is concerning.」
Sariel: 「....Does it look like I give a damn?」
He did not say anything in return, so I nodded in satisfaction.
Sariel: 「That's what I thought.」
Veldanava: 「*Sigh*. Forget what I said. I'm just glad to see that you liked the body I made for you.」
Sariel: 「So, what's the catch?」
I decided to ask him the question that has been bugging me for the past few months.
Veldanava: 「Hm? I don't get what you mean.」
I don't know if he's genuinely clueless or if he's just faking it.
Sariel: 「Oh, you know, giving me this body, and also granting me the title "Universal Guardian."
You're definitely cooking something up, aren't you?」
Veldanava: 「*Sigh*. Your intuition is frightening sharp.」
Sariel: 「It's nothing compared to women's intuition. Just wait till you experience one.」
I said what was in my mind, honestly. Women's Intuition Rules!
My time with Blanc taught me that, at least.
Veldanava: 「Well, you dont need to worry about it now. It will take a few years for it to happen, so just rest easy.」
Somehow, having a careless brute say that does not make things any better.
I decided to spend some time with
him before I go.
I kinda forced him to read some mangas I produced from my memory.
I mean, the dude was practically begging me to stick around him longer.
I just had to do something about his introverted situation.
I asked Sage-san for help, and she managed to recreate paper sheets after spending some time gathering the basic materials needed to create it.
Hence, a successful reproduction of manga was released.
I decided to mass produce paper sheets because why not.
I might need some in the future, so it's better to make some now whilst I'm free than later when I might be busy.
I then forced him to read it. He was strongly against it for some reason. Screaming something along the lines of "I DONT WANNA BECOME AN OTAKU!!!"
I went on to ignore his stupid words and forced the dude to read it by threatening to break friendly ties with him.
He grumbled angrily, muttering nonsensical words that only God's as weird as him would understand.
He literally threw up a tantrum before grumpily reading what I gave him.
Why is he so against it? Did he see it as something that will affect him in the future? Meh, whatever.
After reading a few chapters, he officially became a full-fledged man of culture.
Mission accomplished!!
I aim to raise men of culture in this world and guide them towards the path of fruitfulness.
And I'll start with this mission with the God of the universe!!
「....」
After completing my mission, I said my goodbye and left the Heavenly Star Palace.
I went back to the forest to continue my life there.
Using the data and energy from the body Velda gave me, Sage-san was able to craft a body for me to incarnate into.
I already had one, but let's see the difference in performance.
The difference is that this newly created body was going to be a permanent one. No more leaps.
I brought the body out and used my『Analytical Appraisal』on it.
I was highly impressed with the result.
A mythic grade body. Not a low mythic grade body, but an actual mythic grade body.
The difference was extremely vast.
I then understood the gravity of the situation.
If the difference between each level and grade is this vast, then the quality of the genesis grade body must be Godlike.
But Velda had entrusted his secret and given me this body because he trusted me to this extent.
I will keep this secret to myself, and I don't think I'll try to do that cool scene unless my life depends on it.
Although it's a shame not to have that ticked off my bucket list.
Wait, if I'm immortal, then what's the need of having a bucket list?
I guess old habits die hard.
「Notice. The solution to your problem was solved when your skill evolved.」
Wait, really? How so?
「Answer. When your unique skill evolved into 『Soul Lord』, you gained an additional subskill known as 『True Body Release』.」
Wait, seriously? Give me an update on the skill.
「Understood.
Unique Skill
1.『Soul Lord』
[Subskills]
1. Soul Harvest: Souls of those weaker than the user are instantly harvested. Only individuals with spiritual attack resistance or ultimate-level skills are considered safe from this ability. Skills belonging to the harvested soul can also be acquired.
2. Soul Barrier: A barrier that constantly absorbs the soul energy of targets at a frightening rate.
3. Soul World: An evolved version of 『Soul Storage』. All harvested souls are stored in this subskill and can be converted to magical energy for the user and viceversa. Souls in this dimension are not affected by time. The storage capacity of this skill has been increased, making its storage capacity vastly greater than that of 『Soul Storage』.
4. Life Predation: All types of energy and life can be devoured by this ability. Once devoured, the target is taken into the 『Soul World』for analysis. The target of effect includes but is not limited to organic and inorganic objects. It also extends to skills and magic.
5. Ultra-Speed Soul Regeneration: An enhanced version of 『Soul Regeneration』. Allows for the recovery of damages affecting the soul at a quicker rate compared to Soul Regeneration.
6. Soul Manipulation: Allows for the manipulation of souls to a certain extent.
7. Soul Blade:『Ares』: A mythical grade weapon that ignores the material body and affects the soul of a target upon contact.
8. Soul Appraisal: Allows the user to run analysis on a targets soul, allowing them to access information like the skills they possesses and the functions of that skill. When used on targets weaker than the user, it can also be used to read the memories of the appraised targets.
9.. True Body Release: This skill is only activated once the user dies. Once that happens, the user can decide to transfer their soul to their body that is stored in the『Soul World』. The body can be released from the 『Soul World』if the user wishes to do so. 」
YES!!! This skill is so busted!
Oi! Are you sure that this unique skill isn't supposedly already an ultimate skill?
「Notice. Can not answer. Further analysis is required to answer.」
I see. Oh! That reminds me. Why did you attempt to sacrifice my unique skill when we could've just sacrificed the souls stored in my soul storage?
「Answer. The unique skill 『Soul Lord』has a special function that allows the user to get stronger according to the number of souls stored in the soul storage.
The greater the number of souls stored, the stronger the user will be.」
Wait, is that the reason why I became so weak after I sacrificed the souls?
「Answer. Yes.」
Ah. I guess I now understand why you made that suggestion.
Even so, sacrificing that particular skill is something I don't think you'd readily choose over sacrificing the souls. Did you have something in mind back then?
「Answer. Yes. Sacrification of skills does not necessarily mean losing the skill.
It can be considered as losing a thing to gain another. I intended to use the essence of Ultimate Authority as fuel to boost the attack power.
As long as I had the necessary data needed for the skill's existence, reproduction of the skill wouldn't be a problem.」
Wow. I never knew that. It seems like my ignorance caused me to lose the power I would've gained.
I'm really sorry about that Sage-san.
「Notice. Your apology is not needed.」
Eeeh!? I don't know if you meant that it didn't bother you or that you didn't accept my apology.
「....」
I think I should just shut my mouth. Yeah, that's a good idea.
Continuing my work, I decided to inspect the monsters roaming in the forest.
I noticed that there were few monsters that were not born naturally, neither by reproduction nor by magicules.
I analysed one of these monsters, only to find out that they were artificially created.
There were a few of them that needed to be eliminated.
They were too dangerous, and if left unchecked, they may evolve into something that could destroy the world.
This was totally against the carefree life I envisioned and will only serve to add more work to my already stressful job as the world's protector.
Hence, I eliminated the monsters and set a new mission for myself.
To find the bastard spawning these dangerous creatures and give them a piece of my mind.