"..."
Looking at the conversation in the group, Su Mo raised an eyebrow but ultimately said nothing.
Except for Kanae's Demon Slayer world, none of the other worlds were lacking in world-ending crises.
This was especially true for the Type-Moon world, where the variety of apocalypses was not much less than in the Little Garden.
Madoka's world was even more so; destruction was the main theme hanging over practically every world, with almost no escape.
So, despite Su Mo's strict criteria, basically none of the current members' worlds would be exempt. They just hadn't encountered the trigger for their respective apocalypses yet.
Kanae Kocho: "Listening to you all, I feel like the Demon King in my world doesn't even count as a mob character."
Watching her friends casually talk about world-level crises, then looking at her own enemy, Kanae Kocho felt a pang of shame for her world's villain's lack of ambition.
Here you have a Demon King who can endlessly create more demons, yet not only does he lack any world-ending ideals, he doesn't even have the ambition to openly establish a kingdom of demons on earth.
He just hides around like a rat in the sewers, with zero charisma.
How could a Demon King like that command respect?
Though, on second thought, she decided a charisma-lacking Demon King was a good thing. Otherwise, they wouldn't be fighting scattered demons, but an entire army or nation. That was far beyond what a mere Demon Slayer Corps could handle.
Thinking of this, she added another message.
Kanae Kocho: "But then, thinking about how I'm even weaker than a mob, I suddenly feel at ease."
Kanae Kocho: "It's nice to just be pecking at each other at the bottom of the food chain."
Hearing her say this, Madoka nodded in understanding.
Madoka Kaname: "It's true! I sometimes admire magical girls and all, but if I really had to face the kind of dangers Lord Su Mo goes through, I think being an ordinary person is pretty great."
Jibril: "I fail to comprehend. How boring would a world without slaughter be!"
For a war-crazed Flügel, born for battle, the worldview was naturally completely different.
Seeing her message, Rin couldn't help but retort.
Rin Tohsaka: "It's for the best that you don't understand! If the world became what you find 'interesting,' it would basically be over!"
It was only because of Su Mo's tolerance that this psycho was allowed to run free. Most other worlds wouldn't survive a single slap from the current Jibril.
After her retort, the twin-tailed girl grew a little confused.
Rin Tohsaka: "But speaking of which, how come your problem still isn't solved yet!"
Rin Tohsaka: "@Kanae Kocho."
She was genuinely puzzled.
What version of the game were they on now? Su Mo had gone from a Tier 0 ordinary person to a Tier 7 Single Universe being, and had even found the path to Tier 8.
How was Kanae still stuck here?
If Rin remembered correctly, the Breathing Styles from Kanae's world didn't even rank as a tiered skill. The so-called man-eating demons, even the high-ranking Twelve Kizuki, were just mob characters who were also unranked.
Even the Demon King she spoke of was, at best, Tier 1, or maybe could just barely touch the threshold of Tier 1.
How could an opponent of that level still be a problem?
Rin's words were followed by a moment of silence in the chat.
Madoka Kaname: "?"
Kanae Kocho: "?"
March 7th: "?"
March 7th: "Sorry, I don't know what's going on, I just mindlessly copied."
After March 7th broke the chain, the others finally spoke up.
Jibril: "What's with the question marks? I think what Rin said makes sense!"
Jibril: "If I remember correctly, the enemies in Kanae's world are just Tier 1 mob characters, right?"
March 7th: "Tier 1? Isn't that weaker than a Voidranger?"
March 7th: "I don't know the details, but shouldn't an enemy of that level be easy to deal with?"
The two, who were at least Tier 4 themselves, spoke without a hint of self-awareness. To them, Tier 1 was no different from the weeds on the side of the road.
However—
Shiroyasha: "To be fair, for an ordinary person, a Tier 1 power is still quite threatening. Even in the Little Garden, that's a seven-digit."
Shiroyasha: "If you lack the power, that kind of opponent is indeed hard to deal with."
As the only one in the group who could match the current Su Mo at her peak, she had a better understanding of the world of the weak.
She knew full well that even a newly-tiered being was not an enemy an ordinary person could handle, especially in Kanae's technologically underdeveloped era.
Seeing Shiroyasha's message, Kanae was slightly touched.
Kanae Kocho: "I never thought Lady Shiroyasha would be the one with the most common sense."
Kanae Kocho: "I'd like to anonymously criticize someone here who has forgotten her roots and the friendship of the Weakest Trio."
Kanae Kocho: "@Rin Tohsaka."
Seeing Kanae's message, Rin was taken aback.
Rin Tohsaka: "?"
Rin Tohsaka: "Is it still anonymous if you name me? Wait... now's not the time to complain about that. Lady Shiroyasha's words make sense, but what Jibril said isn't entirely wrong, is it?"
Jibril: "?"
Rin Tohsaka: "I mean, no matter how you look at it, it's still just a Tier 1 opponent. And with a fatal weakness, too."
Looking at Rin's clueless message and her Tier 2 power evaluation, Kanae shook her head.
Kanae Kocho: "Rin, there is now a sad, thick wall between us."
Madoka Kaname: "+1, Big Sis Rin has changed."
Rin Tohsaka: "Wait, why are you saying that?!"
Rin Tohsaka: "You're making me sound like some kind of heartless villain."
The twin-tailed girl was a little lost.
Kanae Kocho: "Do you remember how long we've been in the group?" Kanae prompted, seeing that Rin really didn't get it.
Rin Tohsaka: "Umm, less than three months, right? We chatted for a month before Lord Su Mo joined."
Kanae Kocho: "It's been a little over four months for me, but the timing is roughly the same."
Seeing their exchange, the newer members of the group were once again shocked.
Shiroyasha: "So, it's been less than two months for Su Mo to get to where he is now. In less than three months, at most, he went from an ordinary person to a Full-Authority Domain."
March 7th: "Just like the Aeons, he ascended to heaven in a single step!"
March 7th: "Although, Lord Su Mo has already surpassed the Aeons."
Unlike the first time they had heard these descriptions, looking back on Su Mo's journey now, their shock was calm and profound.
Rin Tohsaka: "Oh, right! In less than half a year, even with non-stop training, it's true you can't get that much stronger."
Rin Tohsaka: "Come to think of it, if Lord Su Mo hadn't helped me and left me Ishtar's Saint Graph, I probably wouldn't even be tiered yet!"
Accustomed to her current power, she only now realized that without Su Mo's gift, she would still be a member of the Weakest Trio.
Well, even now, her strength was third from the bottom; she had just pulled away from the unranked Kanae and Madoka.
Kanae Kocho: "So, you understand my situation now, right?"
Seeing her friend finally come to her senses, Kanae sighed with a mix of helplessness and amusement. If getting tiered was that easy, she wouldn't be holding back for no reason.
Rin Tohsaka: "Sorry, I was being thoughtless!" the twin-tailed girl immediately apologized obediently.
Rin Tohsaka: "But speaking of which, didn't the addition of March 7th and the others give us weaklings a wave of income? It should have helped you too, right?"
The addition of the wealthy new members had them sweeping the store for everything except Su Mo's items, regardless of price.
Rin had earned nearly 10,000 points just by selling her family's magecraft data. In reality, even if Su Mo hadn't left her Ishtar's Saint Graph, she could have easily reached Tier 1.
Kanae Kocho: "It did, but not by much. As you know, the value of my items is low."
Mentioning this made Kanae's heart ache.
Jibril, March 7th, and Shiroyasha bought her things without looking at the price, but all her Breathing Styles combined were less than a thousand points—not even a fraction of a fraction of their spare change.
If she had other items to bundle, she could probably sell them for several times the price, since it was all dirt cheap anyway.
Unfortunately, the Demon Slayer world had little of value. Even with a few clearance sales, she had only managed to scrape together a little over two thousand points. She had caught the wave, but only a small part of it.
Rin Tohsaka: "Hmm, that does sound tough."
She only now realized that all the Breathing Styles in the Demon Slayer world combined were less valuable than the Tohsaka family's magecraft data.
Madoka Kaname: "It's okay, Big Sis Kanae, I'm still at the very bottom!" Madoka, who had no special items to sell at all, comforted her.
She was the poorest of them all. Luckily, she didn't need to spend money on anything, at least not for now.
Kanae Kocho: "Thank you, Madoka."
Kanae Kocho: "But generally speaking, it's not as hard as you think, Rin!"
Kanae Kocho: "Although I've saved up most of my points to buy Lord Su Mo's Five Spirits Breathing Style, I've still gotten a lot stronger by buying other items! I'm already the biggest anomaly in our Demon Slayer Corps."
Kanae Kocho: "Didn't I mention it a couple of days ago? I killed a guy named Doma. He was an Upper Moon of the Twelve Kizuki."
Rin Tohsaka: "Upper Moon?"
Kanae Kocho: "They're all just mobs to you guys! But for the Demon Slayer Corps, it's an unprecedented achievement. Everyone was so happy!"
Kanae Kocho: "Anyway, with the little tricks Lord Su Mo released later, like strengthening the body with magical energy, at my current rate of improvement, it won't even take half a year to reach Tier 1."
Kanae Kocho: "The biggest worry right now isn't my strength, but finding Kibutsuji Muzan!"
Kanae Kocho: "Finding someone is way harder than fighting them!"
Kanae rarely discussed her own situation.
If Rin hadn't asked, she probably wouldn't have gone into such detail. Personally, she was very satisfied with her current life. She had two major goals: save enough money for the Five Spirits Breathing Style, and kill Kibutsuji Muzan.
Before joining the Chat Group, the latter would have been impossible for her. But now, the impossible had become not only possible, but inevitable.
To grow strong enough to kill Muzan in just another six months... to the powerhouses in the Chat Group, this speed was laughably slow.
But for Kanae, and indeed the entire Demon Slayer Corps, it was nothing short of a miracle.
To have the chance to sever a thousand-year-old grudge in just six months wasn't just a promising future; it was right around the corner!
Under these conditions, aside from being a little envious of the powerhouses from time to time, she had nothing to complain about. Her only worry had long since shifted from how to defeat Muzan to how to find him.
After all, with a demon's vitality, if he just fled the country or found a hole to sleep in for a hundred years, she really had no good way to deal with him. While there were methods of longevity in the Chat Group, she couldn't waste that much time on a single Demon King!
Rin Tohsaka: "That makes sense."
Rin Tohsaka: "I don't know how different the man-eating demons in your world are from the Dead Apostles or demonic beasts in mine. Otherwise, I have some magecraft that can detect monsters."
Learning of Kanae's predicament, she naturally wanted to help her friend.
Kanae Kocho: "I don't know! But the demons here don't have magical energy, I can confirm that."
Rin Tohsaka: "That does make it tricky."
Shiroyasha: "If it's just 'oni' in the sense of Fusang mythology, I have a way. The only problem is that the lowest-level method I know is a five-digit... which is Tier 3 in the Chat Group. With the group's rules, I can't even sell it to you cheaply."
Kanae Kocho: "Thank you for your kindness, Lady Shiroyasha, but Tier 3 is indeed a little too much for me."
She couldn't save that many points even in her dreams.
Shiroyasha: "Don't mention it. I'll ask Canary later and see if there's a lower-level option."
As a Floor Master, Shiroyasha, though sometimes mischievous, was very kind-hearted most of the time.
While the group was discussing Kanae's situation and offering suggestions, two new messages caught almost everyone's attention.
One was from Su Mo.
Su Mo: "No need to trouble yourselves. I happen to be free. Leave Kanae's situation to me."
The other was from the Chat Group itself.
[Welcome, New Member, to the Chat Group.]