"Artoria, do you want to work at the Soul Guild or stay by my side?"
"I want to stay by Master's side!"
Artoria wasn't foolish. Choosing between serving Justeaze or Damien as a guard was an easy decision.
"Then, from now on, I'll entrust the bodyguard duties to you."
Damien planned to establish an organization akin to a police department.
Artoria would be its highest leader, overseeing and managing the town's internal security for him.
"Master~~~"
Having been overlooked for so long, Artoria gazed at Damien with deep gratitude.
"Alright, just a little longer."
Damien smiled, patting the girl's shoulder. "Let me settle things with Fran and the others, then I'll take you out for a feast!"
"A feast!"
At the mention of food, Artoria's ahoge sprang upright.
As expected, the King of Knights couldn't resist the allure of good food.
Gulp.
Artoria quietly moved to the room's doorway, assuming the role of a personal guard.
"Fran."
Seeing this, Damien chuckled and summoned Frankenstein to his side.
Fran's situation was unique.
Back in the Nasuverse, Damien had transformed her into his named monster through a Heroic Spirit contract.
Unfortunately, Fran's potential was limited, and she didn't gain a Unique Skill.
[Frankenstein]
[Race: Deathman]
[Magicule: 12,000 EP (A-rank)]
Her race, the Deathman, could be understood as a lifeform revived from a corpse.
Somewhat like zombies, but not quite.
Zombies couldn't reproduce, but the Deathman could.
Thus, they weren't undead but living beings, no different from typical monsters.
"Stones can become spirits, trees can become spirits, and now even corpses can become spirits."
Incidentally, Clayman, one of the Ten Great Demon Lords recently troubling Damien, also belonged to this race.
"Mas…ter…"
"Hey, Fran."
Damien gently patted Fran's head, and she immediately showed a blissful expression, like a puppy basking in its owner's affection.
His expectations for Fran were modest.
As long as she could live happily, that was enough.
"But her language skills need some work."
Damien's only request was for Fran to master fluent speech quickly.
"Yes, yes!"
Fran was obedient, diligently following any command Damien gave.
"Good girl…"
Damien stroked Fran's pink hair while opening his status panel.
[Damien]
[Race: Dragonoid]
[Rank: Special A Demon Lord Seed (Catastrophe Level)]
[Magicule: 300,000 EP]
[Class: Mage]
[Common Skills: Life Magic, Healing Magic, Elemental Magic, Pokémon Magic, etc.]
[Intrinsic Skills: Adaptability, All-Class Proficiency, etc.]
[Additional Skills: Dragon's Eye, Explosion Magic, Spirit Summoning, Human-Spirit Fusion, Demon Lord Haki]
[Unique Skills: Void Ark [Exceptional], World Spirit, Unity of All Spirit, Capturer, Learner, Spirit Controller, Hall of Heroes, Prime Treasury]
[Ultimate Skill: Lord of End (Incomplete)]
[Special Skills: Magicule Solidification (Transmittable), Stardust Control (Non-transmittable), Ring of Divine (Non-transmittable), Dragonoid Transformation (Non-transmittable), Command Seals (Non-transmittable)]
[Exclusive Skill: Twin Martial Souls · Frost Sovereign]
[Lifebound Familliar: Violet (8,000,000 EP)]
[Familliars: Ogerpon, Snow Empress, Ice Empress, Artoria Pendragon, Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern(5/12), Benimaru, Shuna, Shion, Souei (4/24)]
[Familia: Kijin (1/3)]
[Marked Worlds (7-day cooldown): Pokémonverse(Anchorable), Konosubaverse(Anchorable), Douluoverse(Locked), Nasuverse(Anchorable)]
"Two Unique Skills, one Ultimate Skill, plus the special skill Command Seals."
"And my Magicule is back to 300,000."
"Not counting the 8 million stored with Violet…"
Damien had stored most of his Magicule with Violet.
He kept just enough to exceed Demon Lord Seed level, ensuring Violet's Magicule recovery effect worked on him.
"Void Ark, Hall of Heroes, Prime Treasury."
"And Lord of End."
Damien reviewed the new skills on his panel.
Void Ark, as the name implied, was an exceptional upgrade from world-traveling gates to bringing others along.
Though called an "ark," it was essentially a small world unique to Damien.
So now Damien no longer had to worry about leaving talented individuals behind in other worlds.
"With this, even if I can't make it in the Cardinal World, I can take everyone and run."
Damien, always planning escape routes, asked Violet, "Is it possible for the Void Ark to reverse and devour the Cardinal World?"
"It's possible, but unnecessary."
"Why?"
"Merging is easy; separating is hard."
Violet explained, "You're bound to the Cardinal World. As long as it stands, we're immortal."
"But what if the Cardinal World is destroyed?"
Could the Cardinal World be destroyed, and by whom?
The possibility existed.
Who?
Milim and end-stage Rimuru... they could do it.
Thus, using the Cardinal World as a soul container wasn't foolproof.
"The Void Ark is another escape route."
"You mean…?"
Damien was stunned. "We could bind to the Void Ark as a second anchor?"
"Exactly."
Controlling the Cardinal World required Violet's gradual effort to infiltrate it.
The Void Ark, however, was entirely Damien's.
No binding needed... it was already part of him.
"The Cardinal World and Void Ark aren't linked."
Even if Tensuraverse was destroyed, Damien could use the Void Ark to travel to new worlds.
Worst case, he'd switch worlds.
"But merging them leaves us with no options."
"I get it."
Having gained a second life, Damien wouldn't abandon it.
"The Void Ark has no ties to the Star Dragon King."
"Its growth potential surpasses even the Cardinal World!"
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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