The dazzling night sky glittered with countless brilliant stars, each shining with its own light.
Outside Nazarick, First Floor.
Suppressing the corrosion covering his body, Herohero lay on the grass.
As he gazed at the sky, like a jewel box overflowing with stars, memories from the past surfaced in his mind without warning.
Time really does fly.
Before he knew it, so much time had passed.
He thought back to the oppressive society of his previous life. Endless overtime. Living every day on the brink of sudden death from overwork.
Even now, whenever he revisited those memories, Herohero still felt a strange sense of unreality.
Traveling to another world together with his companions.
Becoming one of the Supreme Beings, founding the Sorcerer Kingdom, even holding the fate and future of tens of thousands of lives in his hands.
A story that should only exist in a light novel had somehow happened to an ordinary person like him.
"Now that I think about it, I really owe it to Naohara. If Momonga had been the only one there back then, I probably would have logged off."
Herohero could not help thinking that.
Two people might still feel a little lonely.
But three people made things lively.
And besides, leaving one person behind to log off felt very different from leaving two behind.
So in the end.
Even though his body had already reached its limit and he might have died from overwork at any moment, he still stayed.
Heh. Humans really are contradictory creatures.
Peroroncino, Bukubukuchagama, Blue Planet...
If you had known you would be transported to another world, would you have regretted it?
Regretted not logging in.
Regretted refusing Momonga and Naohara's invitation.
Regretted choosing work over your companions...
"Unfortunately… there's no such thing as a do-over in life. Everyone has to live with the choices they make."
"We are just passersby in each other's lives. Nothing more."
Herohero slowly sat up, thinking silently to himself.
(PS: Everyone's thoughts are different. Since arriving in the New World, and under the influence of his race, Herohero's mindset has gradually changed.)
(To him, those companions who accepted the invitation but never logged in had already created a distance between them.)
(Although he still considered them friends in his heart, that was as far as it went.)
"Hey, Blackie, what are you daydreaming about all by yourself?"
Space distorted slightly, and Naohara's figure appeared beside him.
Herohero was not surprised at all. He simply shook his head calmly.
"Just remembering a few things from the past."
"By the way, how did your trip to the Theocracy go? You urgently called me back, so you must have discovered something important."
After giving a casual explanation, Herohero turned the question back to Naohara.
Originally, according to the plan, he had been searching for traces of the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord together with the Vampiric Dragon Lord.
But just as they finally started to uncover something, he received a Message from Naohara.
He immediately changed plans, leaving the Vampiric Dragon Lord to continue the search while he rushed back to Nazarick at full speed.
"Yes. Our original guess was correct."
"A natural death was just a cover. The Six Great Gods, being Players, never actually died. They have all been hiding in the shadows of the Theocracy."
Sitting down beside Herohero, Naohara nodded.
He recounted everything he had seen and heard in the Theocracy.
Of course, he did not mention that he had gone looking for the Six Great Gods himself. Instead, he implied that they had taken the initiative to contact him.
After listening, Herohero did not appear particularly surprised.
After all, the three of them had already suspected this possibility.
Otherwise, before Naohara departed for the Theocracy, they would not have given him dozens of World-Class Items to carry with him.
"Using World-Class Items together with the power of faith to break through the level 100 cap and ultimately become gods, huh?"
"In that sense, the Six Great Gods have tested the possibility for us."
Herohero let out a cold sneer.
He felt no particular goodwill toward these so-called fellow countrymen.
If anything, he would rather eliminate them completely.
Leaving them alive was a hidden danger.
Unless they willingly offered up their souls and submitted to Nazarick.
"That may be true, but doing that would lead to mutual destruction."
A highly concentrated power of faith could rival a World-Class Item.
This had already been proven and was undoubtedly correct.
The Six Great Gods might look half-dead right now, but the power of faith accumulated over six hundred years was very real.
That was the deterrent they openly displayed.
Just like nuclear-armed superpowers in the real world, neither side dared to act rashly.
Naohara had no intention of gambling on that.
"For now, this is the only thing we can do. Let's wait and see how things develop."
"Getting a World-Class Item and part of the techniques for using the power of faith is already more than enough."
Herohero nodded in agreement.
For them, the so-called Faith Contract that was said to rival a World-Class Item was nothing more than a useless piece of paper.
Setting aside the fact that Wild Magic could break the agreement at any time, even without Wild Magic they still had the World-Class Item [Eternal Seal].
All they needed to do was seal it at the moment they broke the contract.
The Six Great Gods had considered many possibilities, but this was the one point they overlooked.
In short, not only did they lose nothing this time, they had practically gained everything for free.
"Try devouring this heart and see whether the Talent inside can be replicated on a large scale."
Naohara nodded. Then he raised his hand and sliced open space, causing a heart to slowly emerge from the rift.
It belonged to Zesshi Zetsumei.
Earlier, when [Spacial Slash] appeared to tear Zesshi Zetsumei's body apart, part of it had actually been secretly preserved.
In order to conceal the spatial fluctuations and avoid being detected by the Six Great Gods, Naohara had put in quite a bit of effort.
"The Talent of a descendant of the Six Great Gods?"
A trace of interest flashed in Herohero's eyes.
Judging from Naohara's reaction, the Talent contained in this heart was probably far from ordinary.
However, with only a single heart available, it was unclear whether large-scale replication would be possible. In the past, he could consume one and condense another, which only functioned as a conversion and transfer process.
"But now things might be different."
As he spoke, Herohero's arm melted into viscous slime and wrapped around the heart in front of him.
The past was the past, and the present was the present. His abilities were no longer what they used to be.
Time passed little by little.
Gradually, information about Zesshi Zetsumei's Talent began to reveal itself.
"It's an ability similar to reading the memories of an object. By wielding a weapon, the user can access the former owner's magic and even special skills."
Herohero sounded slightly surprised as he explained the result.
By simply equipping different weapons, the user could freely activate all the skills belonging to the weapon's former owner's class.
This Talent was extremely powerful.
Moreover, if it were combined with the Talent he obtained in E-Rantel, the one that allowed him to ignore conditions and freely use any item or weapon, the two abilities would complement each other perfectly. That combination would eliminate the weapon restriction entirely and turn the effect into something truly bug-level.
"Can it be replicated on a large scale?"
Naohara's gaze shifted slightly as he asked.
Zesshi Zetsumei's Talent was almost exactly what he had expected. That explained why she was considered one of the top ten existences in the New World.
"It can be done, but it's troublesome."
Faced with Naohara's question, Herohero fell silent for a moment before nodding.
The power of the World Boss had expanded the capabilities of his racial abilities, allowing him to replicate even Talents. However, this was only possible in theory, and the actual process was rather complicated.
It was like being given a painting and asked to reproduce it exactly.
"As long as it can be replicated, time isn't important."
Naohara said this while patting Herohero on the shoulder.
"What are your plans next? If you want to focus on researching Talents, I can go capture the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord in your place."
"No need. When we wiped out Eight Fingers before, didn't we obtain the ability [Parallel Processing]? With that ability, I can handle both tasks at the same time."
Herohero shook his head and rejected Naohara's suggestion.
There were only a handful of True Dragon Lords left, and he could not let Naohara deal with all of them while he missed the chance to try fighting one himself.
"Alright, I'll leave it to you then."
Seeing this, Naohara did not say anything further.
He was already thinking about heading to the Fifth Floor next, since there were still a few matters there that needed to be handled.
Neither of them mentioned Momonga.
After all, he had finally gotten some time off, so it was better not to disturb him. They could talk about everything once he finished his trip and returned.