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 immensely began to blush 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.」
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 excuse. 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 Ashura form.
Dagruel, on his own, is already strong enough to defeat most of the primordials quite easily, but you were able to kill him in his prime.」
Sariel: 「Well, the only reason I survived is because of my fighting style. The way I fight is by matching my opponent 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 revived Ashura.」
Sariel: 「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. 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 HOBO!! BRAINLESS NEET.」
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 him, but you should just forget about it.」
There was a meeting going on between seven angels.
Seven primordial angels, to be exact.
These angels were the progenitors of all angels.
They were born from the Great Holy Spirit of Light and were the counterparts to the primordial demons.
They were all having a meeting on a topic that has become a world known event.
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' behaviour.
Dino: 「Ouch..... *Snore*....」
Without a care in the world, Dino fell asleep whilst standing.
Pico: 「Are you kidding me!? He just.....」
Obera: 「Just let him be. Back to the topic, Lord Veldanava has made it clear that the silver primordial is his best friend.
I don't personally have a problem with him. Although the power he wields is concerning.」
Cornu: 「Yeah. The worst part is that he has yet to reach his final evolutionary stage.」
Feldway: 「Another concerning thing is that our Lord has been preparing a new and powerful body specifically for him.
That body is on par with mine or even better. It was created using stardust energy.」
As soon as he said that, everyone looked at him with shocked expression.
All except Dino, who proceeded to fall down to the ground and continue sleeping.
Cornu: 「WHAT!! I didn't hear anything about that!」
Pico: 「Seriously!? It seems like this Sariel guy is someone our lord cherishes very much.
I'm kinda jealous. Lucky bastard.」
Obera: 「And here I was being wary of his strength.」
Obera was thinking of how strong he would get after acquiring his new body.
Zalario: 「No matter how shocking it is, there is nothing we can do about it.」
Zalario, ever the cool headed one, shrugged it off as he believed that his lord knew what he was doing.
Feldway: 「That makes it even more annoying.」
Feldway was the only one among them who wasn't taking the information lightly.
Feldway: 「Tch. I can already see him wearing a stupid smug face. I swear, the next time i see that shit-eating grin on his face, I'm gonna—」
???: 「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 newcomer who had just appeared.
Gracia: 「Norana?」
Norana was the ninth primordial angel under Veldanava and was also among the strongest of primordials.
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, including you, Feldway.」
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.」
She says this with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Gracia: 「*Sigh*. Not you to— ... you know what, just forget it. 」
◇◇◇
Sariel: 「So you divided them into three people? 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 them have an important role to play in the world, so I can't just dump all the work on them.」
Wow. If only he always acted this responsible.
Sariel: 「So you made them in charge of the land at the west.
But you said that "Fenn" refused your offer.」
He is the youngest among the three, according to what Velda said.
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 the 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.
Stardust 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.
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. I'm actually a dragon.」
What in the actual fuck?
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: 「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 horns 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 of taking little praises to his head.
Something I need 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.
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 can happen.
Veldanava: 「Hm? Interesting...」
Did this shit head just use me as a lab rat?
Veldanava: 「You know, the amount of insults I've received from you 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.
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 could 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 nerd.
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.
The difference is that this newly created body was going to be a permanent one.
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.