Kai blinked into existence in front of the massive starship.
It wasn't his first time letting his eyes fall on a Legendary Grade Item.
When The Banished One had pulled Black into a Time Node, He had offered him The Last Sake — a Consumable Legendary Grade Item, changing the very definition of Quality for him.
The drink had broken down Black to the uppermost layer of Source, restructuring him from the beginning. It had been a process quite similar to the tempering of steel, making him less brittle and more durable.
The resulting Quality, though in number it seemed the same, had become utterly different.
The Last Sake had done all that, given that Black was a creation of DEATH THE ARTIFICER — a Deep One; a Deep One known for His creations.
To deconstruct, reconstruct, and make His creation better than before…
Such a feat had been enough for The Last Sake to be a Legendary Grade Item.
But that hadn't been the only benefit it had bestowed upon Black, and Kai through him.
Upon drinking The Last Sake, Kai had received The Will of D. — Roger's Inheritance — a Mystery!
It was this Mystery that had ultimately pushed Kai into assuming his true status of The Walking Chaos — Nyarlathotep!
All of that was because of a Legendary Grade Item.
So, Kai had indeed come face to face with such an Item, going as far as to use it.
However, just as Black had failed to fathom the importance, power, and abilities of The Last Sake, Kai failed to notice anything remarkable about… The Executor Super Star Destroyer!
In fact, it looked mundane.
The ship gave Kai the feeling that, with one thought, he could crush it like paper.
And that was a grave, concerning thought, given that Ad Infinitum and Lucky Intuitions were on the fullest alert at this moment.
Which meant the Legendary Grade was so strong that, even with his abilities, Kai couldn't comprehend its mere existence.
That realization gave AI something to process, generating countless Lucky Intuitions.
First, Kai was now a hundred percent sure that if he had drunk The Last Sake without his father's help, he would have instantly died. Perhaps The Banished One had used His own mysteries to help Black out in not only consuming the Legendary Item, but also surviving and digesting it?
Second, it was related to Kai's current hoard of Items.
For a long time, he had wondered why The Philosopher's Stone had turned out to be a Top Heroic Grade Named Item. He had already figured out that it was the Timeline who had intervened as the Artifact transformed into an Item, making it several Grades higher than it should have been, trying to gain Nyarlathotep's favor by creating this Karma between them.
The same was true for the three Heroic Items — the Pumpkin Juice Bottle, the Daily Prophet, and the Chocolate Frog Card — that She had bestowed upon him.
If it hadn't been for the Pumpkin Juice Bottle, then Black would have lost Medea during the battle at Matou Mansion very early in the game, ruining most of his plans. If it hadn't been for this Item's massive regenerative abilities, then Kai would have never survived against Mang Jian's Blind Domain, at least not for long enough to let Black leave the Inventory.
The Daily Prophet had its own uses, letting Kai plan and scheme, conspiring against Fate itself. With the Marauder's Map, this Heroic Item was bound to become one of his greatest trump cards.
Then there was the Chocolate Frog Card… an Item that could devour a 12th Floor Contestant unconditionally.
Yes.
All these Items were surely deserving of their Heroic Grade.
Other than the Top-level 15th Floor Contestants, not many from the 5th Floor might even have a Mid-level Heroic Grade Item.
But the question was — why Heroic?
If the Timeline could upgrade the transforming Artifact, then why stop at Heroic?
In itself, that hadn't been enough to rile up Ad Infinitum and Lucky Intuitions. However, there was one more Item that added to the mystery, providing enough variables to come to a vague conclusion.
That Item was The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Original).
The simple, Half-Deep One-parasitized Item had been turned into a Five-Leaf Grimoire by the Wizard King, Julius Novachrono — a member of the Storm Pirates — a Storyline Character who had transcended several Pillar Timelines in the Black Clover Bubble.
With the likes of Yhwach, Meruem, Acnologia, and Madara leaving behind their tales, it wasn't a surprise that it rose to the Top Heroic level, along with all the changes Julius had made it go through.
However, what was surprising was why it had stopped at only Top Heroic Grade.
The four Tales of Storyline Characters who had surpassed their Timelines, given the Warnings they came along with, should have been more than enough to push the Grimoire to the Legendary Grade.
In fact, such an upgrade would not only have been justifiable but also expected.
Then… why had it stayed at Top Heroic Grade?
I feel like… Kai thought, looking at the paper-starship, …it will be almost impossible for any of my Items to step into the Legendary Grade realm. There must be a vast barrier between Top Heroic and Low Legendary. Uncrossable by ordinary means. Hmm…
That was indeed concerning, given his plans regarding Eon Soul Dew (Corrupt).
But the gravest threat this conclusion posed was related to none other than Black, who had also upgraded to become a Top-level Heroic Grade Item.
Did it mean that Black's path to growth had come to an end?
Hanging in the middle of space, wearing his white clothes, Kai ruminated over that question with Calm, one of the ship's entry points finally opening itself to him.
Then, slowly, he let himself glide forward, entering the Legendary Grade starship where he was to be judged for his crimes by the Inquisitors of the Primordial Tower's Empires.
Darth Vader.
Sousuke Aizen.
Vlad Dracula Tepes.
All Storyline Characters, who had surpassed their respective Pillar Timelines…
… who could use an Item, despite not being Contestants.