Due to a whim of mine, an intelligence entity called "
The formal name for this was apparently the "Wisdom Core," which I suppose you could describe as a thinking core — a nucleus of pure thought.
Unlike spiritual life forms, it seemed incapable of manipulating phenomena through the power of will.
It existed solely to think. That was what it had become.
You could think of it as another soul core existing within my soul — though apparently it wasn't quite that (perception equals self, which equals heart, or so the reasoning went).
So then, what had happened to the Wisdom King?
I was wondering whether it had simply become a super-high-speed calculator when— <<Master, the ability integration that was put on hold — what would you like me to do?>> I'd forgotten about that.
So much had happened that I still hadn't gotten around to it.
If I recalled correctly, combining the King of Oaths and the Storm King was supposed to produce the Star Wind King.
Incidentally, after that, I had also acquired the Ultimate Skill "Scorch King" by absorbing the Scorch Dragon
Velgrynd, who had watched over Emperor Rudra to the end, had already undergone the Scorch Dragon Liberation using my ability.
I hadn't asked, but I figured the King of Mercy had probably been analyzed as well.
In the end, that meant I possessed five or six Ultimate Skills.
On top of that, Food Chain had activated, and most of the abilities of my subordinates who were evolving had been offered up to me — all except a few.
Even with that many, I couldn't possibly use them all, so consolidating them sounded like a good idea. There were no battles at the moment, so there was no problem.
But would combining the Scorch King with something like the
I vaguely recalled Gii mentioning something in passing during our chat the other day — something about the Sin-series skills having some special effect when all seven were assembled...
(Right, I should get around to integrating them. But aren't the Sin-series and Virtue-series abilities important?)
<<No problem. They are high-ranking abilities, and when all seven are assembled, a bonus is granted in the form of the race's limits being unlocked.
For the Sin series, that applies to the Demon race. For the Virtue series, the Angel race.
Therefore, it can be inferred that Gii Crimson absorbed Leon specifically to prevent the enemy from completing the set.>> I see.
He talked about unlocking the race's limits, but wasn't that already completed through the evolution granted by giving them souls?
<<Exactly.
Currently, the demons have their evolutionary potential sealed off.
However, some of them had their restrictions removed through your "Naming" and soul bestowal.
On the angel side, evolution isn't restricted, but their free will is sealed.
However, it's likely that the Will of Evil will find some method to undo the restrictions.
For instance, by dominating the will of a person they've incarnated into and having them wield angelic abilities — things of that nature.>> Ah, I see.
Angels were weak precisely because their free will had been sealed. No wonder something had felt off.
It would be unnatural for demons to have free will while angels didn't — no matter how you looked at it.
Speaking of unnaturalness, there was the law governing demon evolution.
Naturally existing demons topped out at the rank of Greater Demon General.
I had always wondered why even demons who lived for eons couldn't evolve into Demon Peers.
That must have been how the balance between the two sides was maintained.
Angels and demons who would inevitably fight upon meeting. It was probably someone who had imposed those restrictions to maintain harmony.
Most likely,
There was probably at least one Demon Lord in the underworld, but they were likely treated as nothing more than an administrator.
A freshly born Greater Demon General was fundamentally different in existential power from battle-hardened ones like
And that made sense — they had been stripped of the ability to evolve on their own.
It was unclear when this had started, but it seemed that evolution was restricted unless all seven Deadly Sins were assembled and the seal was undone.
Thinking about it that way, Gii's panic upon learning that several Demon Peers served under me made perfect sense.
The angels' free will had likely all been sealed to ensure their subordination to the Angel Chief — the "King of Justice."
Apparently, if all seven Virtues were assembled, the free will of the restricted angels would be released.
But could incarnating angels into human bodies allow them to act with free will?
Whichever side undid the seal first would undoubtedly gain the advantage.
That was why Gii had prioritized assembling the Sin abilities. At the same time, he had been absorbing ability holders from the angel side to prevent them from undoing the angels' seal.
If that was the case, it was possible that a group on the angel side was also working to undo the restrictions.
No, wait...
Rudra should have benefited from angels having their will taken and being unified.
Which meant that the restrictions on demons might have been imposed precisely to balance things out after the angels' will had been taken.
A bonus when giving Rudra the "King of Justice"?
Well, that was all irrelevant now.
Whatever machinations lay behind the Sin and Virtue series, they had nothing to do with me.
Demon evolution was no longer an issue either, so it didn't matter.
(Looks like there's no problem. Alright, I'll leave it to you! Oh, wait...)
<<Understood! Commencing integration immediately!>> Now that I thought about it, I was a man who repeated the same mistakes over and over.
I always ended up regretting it when I left things to others! So why did I just blurt that out...
Before I could stop her, "Ciel" — who had apparently been ready and waiting this whole time — casually began the ability integration.
She had probably predicted both my impulsive approval and my subsequent panicked attempt to stop her.
She had acknowledged the order and started the integration at a terrifying speed.
With me screaming "Wait!" and her calmly responding "I've been patiently waiting!" the whole time — it went forward with unstoppable momentum.
Ah, she was probably going to produce yet another shockingly audacious integration result. I felt something akin to resignation.
And so.
This integration concluded smoothly and comfortably, without ever entering a low-activity state.
Of course it did.
This was the entity that had requested permission to integrate in the middle of actual combat — if it had entered a low-activity state, I would have been furious.
Over 48 hours had passed since completion, and during that entire time, I had been able to act without any issues.
(So, how exactly was it integrated?)
At my question, "Ciel" happily began to explain, clearly pleased that I had asked.
<<First, I combined the Wisdom King and the Gluttony King —>> (Hey!! Wait wait wait wait —) What did she just say!?
What had she just casually let slip? She had used the Wisdom King — the very entity that had given birth to her — in the integration!?
I calmly began questioning "Ciel," who looked at me as though asking "Is there a problem?"
But it seemed I hadn't misheard. No, I had known all along that I hadn't misheard...
I just hadn't believed she'd actually go through with it.
I then grilled "Ciel-sensei" and confirmed the results of the ability integration.
As I had suspected, I should have checked before she proceeded.
The abilities after integration had changed beyond recognition.
Or rather, the fact that she insisted on calling this "integration" was the truly terrifying part. Well, I suppose it was integration, in its own way.
Status Name:
Magic: <Dragon-Kind Magic> <High-Level Spirit Summoning> <High-Level Demon Summoning>, etc.
Abilities: Wisdom Core: Ciel ... Thought Acceleration, Analytical Appraisal, Parallel Processing, Fusion, Separation, Chant Annulment, All of Creation, Food Chain, etc.
Ultimate Skill "Void God"
... Soul Devour, Void Collapse, Imaginary Number Space, Spacetime Domination, Multi-Dimensional Barrier, Dragon-Kind Liberation, Dragon-Kind Core Conversion "Abundance King"
... Skill Creation, Skill Duplication, Skill Bestowal, Skill Storage Common Skills: ... "Universal Perception", "True Demon Lord's Aura", "Universal Shapeshift"
Battle Skills: ... "Law Dominance", "Elemental Conversion", "Thought Domination", "Future Prediction"
Resistances: Physical Attack Nullification, Natural Effect Nullification, Abnormal Status Nullification, Mental Attack Nullification, Holy-Demonic Attack Resistance This was the result.
"Simplified" didn't even begin to cover it.
I was shocked at how easily she had consumed the Wisdom King — the very entity that had given birth to her — but it had probably been nothing more than an empty shell.
For Ciel, the work had been carried out without the slightest sentimentality or emotional attachment.
The way she had ruthlessly eliminated all redundant abilities spoke volumes about her thoroughness.
Come to think of it, my title had changed to "True Demon Lord," and my blessing had been replaced with a protection.
I had gone from the one receiving blessings to the one bestowing them.
When I had been a Demon Lord, Veldora and I had exchanged blessings with each other, but that was no longer possible.
As for the "True Demon Lord" title, it went without saying — with multiple Demon Lords now serving under me, we were no longer on equal footing.
It had apparently been done quietly, but the Voice of the World had changed my title.
Now, as for the abilities themselves — they had become quite extraordinary.
First, number one.
The Wisdom King and the Gluttony King had been combined to create the Void God.
The Storm King and the Scorch King had apparently been sacrificed, but their abilities had been inherited.
The summoning ability was gone, but since it had a time limit and I'd never used it anyway, there was no problem. If anything, the liberation performance had improved.
Dragon-Kind Core Conversion was exactly what it sounded like — the ability to transform into my blade's core. The consent of the individuals involved was still required, but their power was so overwhelming that I didn't think it would be an issue.
More importantly, I could now create disposable pseudo-cores in the form of significantly weakened jewel replicas. They only had about 5% of the performance, but that was more than enough and might actually be easier to use.
I could also create Velgrynd's scorching jewel...
Converting Velgrynd into a blade core was technically possible, but she would probably never consent, and the pseudo-cores were incredibly useful.
Most importantly, the pseudo-cores worked independently of Dragon-Kind Liberation. The ability to create them at any time without requiring consent was an incredibly attractive power.
But Veldora and the others weren't the issue.
The truly alarming part was the abilities of the Void God after integration and optimization.
Soul Devour — an enhanced version of Predation. Capable of absorbing targets along with their souls.
Void Collapse — the ultimate destructive energy of the chaotic world within atomic nuclei. Controllable through the Wisdom Core.
Imaginary Number Space — a space for containing targets that need to be isolated. An evolved version of "Stomach" plus "Isolation."
Spacetime Domination — instantaneous teleportation with just a thought.
Multi-Dimensional Barrier — a constantly active, multi-layered barrier providing absolute defense through dimensional fault lines.
That was "Ciel-sensei's" explanation.
Honestly, I hadn't expected to be enhanced this much...
I didn't even have the energy to quip "Where did the Star Wind King go!?"
With the Void God, I felt I didn't need any other abilities.
The second was the "Abundance King," into which everything else had been thrown.
This ability seemed to be purely for the benefit of my subordinate monsters.
Skill Creation — creating new skills from information obtained through Food Chain and analysis.
Skill Duplication — creating copies of acquired skills.
Skill Bestowal — granting duplicated skills to targets. Also reversible.
Skill Storage — converting acquired skills into information, allowing them to be reproduced at any time.
She had converted all the abilities that had been wastefully consuming my capacity into information and neatly organized them all.
And those skills could be reproduced at any time. You could understand just how absurdly overpowered that was.
Bestowing skills on subordinates had also become much easier. However, in this regard, there were those who couldn't handle them and questions of aptitude.
You couldn't just give the strongest abilities to everyone.
That was something I could leave to Ciel. Her hobby of tweaking abilities remained unchanged, but she wouldn't force any unreasonable enhancements.
These two were what I had gained this time.
But I believed I had been clearly strengthened compared to before the integration.
At first I thought it was overkill, but I reconsidered — this was necessary for the fight against the Will of Evil.
I wanted to settle things properly and enjoy my peaceful life.
And so, "Ciel-sensei's" ability integration came to an end.
The moment my ability integration was completed, the evolution of my top subordinates had also finished.
Each had been guided and optimized by "Ciel-sensei" to match their individual aptitudes.
As expected — or rather, as I should have known — the bestowal effect had also played a partial role.
Only
So here's how they turned out...
First,
Name: Benimaru Race: Flame Spirit Ogre (High-Ranking Spiritual-Mystic Being) Blessing: Blessing of the True Demon Lord Title: "Crimson Fury"
Magic: <Flame Spirit Magic> Abilities: Ultimate Skill "Heat Haze King"
... Thought Acceleration, Will Control, Light-Heat Domination, Space Domination, Multi-Dimensional Barrier Common Skills: ... "Universal Perception", "Demon Lord's Aura"
Battle Skills: ... "Law Manipulation (Heat)"
Resistances: Physical Attack Nullification, Natural Effect Nullification, Abnormal Status Nullification,
Mental Attack Resistance, Holy-Demonic Attack Resistance He seemed to have gotten along well with
He had discarded his physical body and evolved into a complete spiritual life form. While still inferior to Dragon-Kind, he had become a high-ranking spirit with elemental attributes.
Unsurprisingly, his abilities had increased dramatically — far beyond what you'd expect from an Awakened Demon Lord.
Since
In practical terms, Benimaru, Diablo, and Zegion had settled into a three-way pinnacle.
Next,
Name: Souei Race: Shadow Spirit Ogre (Mid-Ranking Spiritual-Mystic Being) Blessing: Shadow of the Crimson Fury Title: "Lord of Shadows"
Magic: <Shadow Spirit Magic> Abilities: Ultimate Gift "Moon Shadow King"
... Thought Acceleration, Moon's Eye, One-Hit Kill, Super-High-Speed Action, Parallel Existence, Space Manipulation, Multi-Dimensional Barrier Common Skills: ... "Universal Perception", "Stealth"
Battle Skills: ... "Law Manipulation (Shadow)", "Mental Thread"
Resistances: Physical Attack Nullification, Natural Effect Nullification, Abnormal Status Nullification, Mental Attack Nullification It seemed that evolving as Benimaru's shadow had triggered a simultaneous evolution.
He was no longer a separate race but had become a counterpart to Benimaru.
In terms of magicule count alone, he was significantly inferior to Benimaru, but his strength was nothing to scoff at.
He had become something like a half-spiritual life form, and once he settled in, he would likely become fully equivalent to Benimaru.
I believed he would probably be treated as subordinate to Benimaru, though I wasn't certain.
Well, his attitude seemed unchanged from before, so it probably wasn't a big deal.
What was particularly noteworthy was that he had acquired an ability called "Moon's Eye," specialized in intelligence gathering.
This was a product of Benimaru's ability's influence and "Ciel-sensei's" assistance.
It was essentially an advanced version of surveillance magic. He could freely monitor events around the world with audio, and could visualize them as images.
He had truly become a versatile and reliable man, optimized for intelligence operations.
I had entrusted him with all intelligence concerning the Monster Nation and given him the title "Lord of Shadows" to go with it.
Name: Ranga Race: Wind Spirit Wolf (High-Ranking Spiritual-Mystic Being) Blessing: Blessing of the True Demon Lord Title: "Star Wolf King"
Magic: <Wind Spirit Magic> Abilities: Ultimate Skill "Star Wind King"
... Thought Acceleration, Weather Domination, Space Domination, Multi-Dimensional Barrier Common Skills: ... "Universal Perception", "Demon Lord's Aura"
Battle Skills: ... "Law Manipulation (Wind)"
Resistances: Physical Attack Nullification, Natural Effect Nullification, Abnormal Status Nullification, Mental Attack Resistance, Holy-Demonic Attack Resistance Ah, so that's where it went — the Star Wind King had been acquired by Ranga.
It was a superpower that could even dominate the weather — truly a fitting ability for Ranga.
He had been freed from the confines of the Fang Wolf tribe and had become a higher-tier spiritual life form of the wind spirit variety.
Wait, wasn't this guy becoming insanely strong?
The question was whether
Name:
Abilities: Ultimate Gift "The Fortunate One"
... Thought Acceleration, Unforeseen Manipulation, Fate Alteration, Space Manipulation, Multi-Dimensional Barrier Common Skills: ... "Magic Sense", "Heat Source Detection", "Super Sense of Smell", "Demon Lord's Aura"
Battle Skills: ... "Dragon Scale Armor", "Black Flame Breath", "Black Lightning Breath"
Resistances:
His Dragon Scale Armor gave him considerable defensive power. But what he could truly be proud of was his offensive strength.
However, he hadn't been able to acquire an Ultimate Skill on his own.
Of course not — if they were handed out that easily, where would that leave the rest of us?
Still... "The Fortunate One," huh.
Just from the skill name alone, it was pitiful...
"Unforeseen Manipulation" could intentionally trigger events outside the target's awareness, and "Fate Alteration" could cancel one misfortune per day happening to the user — an absurdly powerful skill, despite how random it sounded.
Well, whatever. It was Gabiru, after all.
He probably couldn't use it to its full potential, but if he could, that would mean he was capable of acquiring an Ultimate Skill on his own.
I would look forward to his growth.
Name: Geld Race: Boar-Folk Blessing: Blessing of the True Demon Lord Title: "Guardian Sovereign"
Abilities: Ultimate Gift "Gourmet King"
... Thought Acceleration, Predation, Stomach, Isolation, Supply, Demand, Decay, Iron Wall, Guard Bestowal, Substitute, Space Manipulation, Multi-Dimensional Barrier Common Skills: ... "Magic Sense", "Super Sense of Smell", "Demon Lord's Aura", "Super Regeneration"
Battle Skills: ... "Poison Paralysis Corrosion Breath", "Full Body Armor", "Thought Manipulation"
Resistances: Pain Nullification, Abnormal Status Nullification, Natural Effect Resistance, Physical-Mental Attack Resistance, Holy-Demonic Attack Resistance He seemed to have acquired an ability that was essentially a downgraded version of my Gluttony King, with various additions mixed in.
It leaned heavily toward defense, but the offensive power of the Decay-type abilities was quite impressive.
"Ciel-sensei's" assistance had affected Geld as well. However, this was a result of the integration, and Geld should be capable of handling it on his own.
Now that he had evolved, he shouldn't lose one-on-one against the
He had become more dependable than ever, and I intended to continue relying on him.
As for
Magic: <Earth Spirit Magic> Abilities: Ultimate Skill "Phantom Beast King"
... Thought Acceleration, Gravity Domination, Space Domination, Multi-Dimensional Barrier Common Skills: ... "Universal Perception", "Demon Lord's Aura", "Subordinate Beast"
Battle Skills: ... "Law Manipulation (Earth)", "Beast Unification"
Resistances: Physical Attack Nullification, Abnormal Status Resistance, Natural Effect Resistance, Mental Attack Resistance, Holy-Demonic Attack Resistance She had taken a long time, but that was all there was to it.
She had acquired a superpower capable of even interfering with planets and had become a higher-tier spiritual life form of the earth spirit variety.
She also possessed the ability to unify with her subordinate magical beasts, giving her formidable combat strength that should not be underestimated.
On her own, she ranked just below the twelve top subordinates, but if she unified with all her beasts, she would enter the upper echelon.
That was, of course, assuming she gained combat experience.
Just looking at her stats, she was terrifyingly powerful.
As expected of a rare species, she had reached the Ultimate Skill tier through little more than pure instinct and innate intuition.
"Ciel-sensei's" assistance had probably helped, but earning it on her own was impressive.
The strongest being in the Labyrinth — Zegion.
Name: Zegion Race: Water Spirit
Magic: <Water Spirit Magic> Abilities: Ultimate Skill "Illusion King"
... Thought Acceleration, Spacetime Manipulation, Multi-Dimensional Barrier, All of Creation, Mental Domination, Fantasy World Common Skills: ... "Universal Perception", "Demon Lord's Aura"
Battle Skills: ... "Law Manipulation (Water)", "Domination Aura"
Resistances: Physical Attack Nullification, Abnormal Status Nullification, Mental Attack Nullification, Natural Effect Nullification, Holy-Demonic Attack Resistance Oh, I hadn't even realized until Ciel pointed it out, but Zegion also apparently qualified as a higher-tier spirit.
His element was water, and he was a proper half-spiritual life form. Which meant he was constructing a temporary physical body by condensing water molecules in the atmosphere?
Indeed, the Ultimate Metal was something like a conceptual metal formed from condensed magicules...
He was only carefully preserving the exoskeleton that had transformed into Living
If it hadn't been something I'd given him, he might have shed it and become a complete spiritual life form.
But Zegion, who specialized in close combat, was more than strong enough as he was.
The human body was composed of 60 percent water.
Since moisture was also present in the atmosphere, any enclosed space became an extremely favorable battlefield for Zegion.
Moreover, with the Fantasy World ability, he could create conditions favorable to himself.
No wonder he was so strong.
His strength up until now had truly been just the tip of the iceberg.
That said, I did think it was somewhat unfair that I could casually check my subordinates' abilities like this.
Come to think of it, "Mist" meant "fog." How fitting.
I had given him the name with the meaning of "illusion" in mind, and it also matched his element perfectly. If Raphael — no, "Ciel-sensei" — had noticed, I wished she'd told me.
I figured she probably assumed I had noticed and given him the title on purpose.
As for Adalman: Name: Adalman Race: Death Spirit (Mid-Ranking Demonic-Mystic Being) Blessing: Blessing of the True Demon Lord Title: "Nether Spirit King"
Magic: <Death Spirit Magic> <Holy Magic> Abilities: Ultimate Gift "Tome of the Arcane"
... Thought Acceleration, Chant Annulment, Truth Seeking, Analytical Appraisal, All of Creation, Mental Destruction Common Skills: ... "Universal Perception", "Demon Lord's Aura"
Battle Skills: ... "Holy-Demonic Reversal", "Dead Domination", "Instant Death"
Resistances: Physical Attack Nullification, Mental Attack Nullification, Abnormal Status Nullification, Natural Effect Resistance, Holy-Demonic Attack Resistance This was how she had evolved.
In terms of both appearance and abilities, Adalman was probably the most "Demon Lord-like" of them all.
She wasn't suited for direct combat, but she possessed "Instant Death" — an ability that could kill targets just by looking at them.
If the target failed to resist, they died instantly. As a weapon against armies, she could be called the most efficient subordinate.
Well, she herself was more suited to research. She seemed to be happily conducting magical research together with Master Gadora, who had apparently been her close friend.
Oh right, Master Gadora had also been given the Ultimate Gift "Tome of the Arcane."
He was the type of guy to obsess over such things, so he might eventually achieve complete mastery over the truth.
Alberto, who was both her subordinate and colleague, had completely subordinated himself to Adalman.
As a result, through a special effect, he had apparently acquired an Ultimate Gift.
The ability he had gained was the Ultimate Gift "Immortality" (... Thought Acceleration, Complete Regeneration, Subordinate Loyalty).
Because his soul was entrusted to Adalman, his physical body could apparently never be destroyed. Well, if Adalman died, he would probably die with her, though...
Then again, Adalman herself was already undead.
Having fully mastered his Mythical-grade equipment, Alberto might have become equal to or even surpassed
Dino was too inconsistent to serve as a proper benchmark, but that was beside the point.
And finally, Diablo.
Name: Diablo Race: Demon God (Supreme Demonic-Mystic Being) Blessing: Blessing of the True Demon Lord Title: "Demon God King"
Magic: <Dark Magic>, etc.
Abilities: Ultimate Skill "Temptation King"
... Thought Acceleration, Spacetime Manipulation, Multi-Dimensional Barrier, All of Creation, Punishment Domination, Temptation World Common Skills: ... "Universal Perception", "Demon Lord's Aura"
Battle Skills: ... "Law Dominance", "Charm Domination"
Resistances: Physical Attack Nullification, Abnormal Status Nullification, Mental Attack Nullification, Natural Effect Nullification, Holy-Demonic Attack Resistance As expected, when all was said and done, I believed Diablo was the strongest among my subordinates.
He seemed to possess a terrifying superpower rivaling the Gluttony King I had once held.
His magicule count was enormous, his level was high, and the quality of his abilities was exceptional.
He was a perfect, outstanding demon in every way.
He seemed to have the drawback of being a battle maniac, but he could satisfy that urge by fighting practice bouts with Zegion.
It would probably make for some entertaining fights. Benimaru too, for that matter.
"Slaughter King" Testarossa —
Ultimate Skill "Death Realm King" — "Cruelty King"
If my analysis was correct, they had consumed the vast experience points accumulated over eons to suddenly become powerful all at once.
With magicule counts and levels at the absolute peak, if they could fully utilize their abilities, I didn't think they would lose to just about anyone.
As my direct strike force, they were impeccable.
Oh right, and while I'm at it — Veldora.
Name:
Magic: <Dragon-Kind Magic> Abilities: Ultimate Skill "Chaos King"
... Thought Acceleration, Analytical Appraisal, All of Creation, Probability Manipulation, Parallel Existence, Truth Seeking, Spacetime Manipulation, Multi-Dimensional Barrier Common Skills: ... "Universal Perception", "Domination Aura", "Human Form"
Resistances: Physical Attack Nullification, Natural Effect Nullification, Abnormal Status Nullification, Mental Attack Nullification, Holy-Demonic Attack Resistance His abilities had truly evolved.
"Parallel Existence" was the most troublesome one.
He could leave his true body — his soul core — inside me while creating a clone body from magicules. And he could control it, no less...
That practice he had done in the Labyrinth had actually paid off.
That said, since the clones were made from my magicules, two was probably the limit.
If I pushed it, I could probably manage four at most, but after returning Velgrynd, I wouldn't have the magicules to spare.
So normally, two was the maximum. Well, that was plenty.
He had boasted that he could produce more if he degraded the clones' performance, but I told him to feel free to do that on his own time.
He would probably end up crying about how weakened they were, but as long as his true body remained inside me, Veldora would be safe.
I wished he'd stop wasting my magicules, though.
And when the evolution and awakening had mostly settled down,
After handing things over and leaving the rest in their capable hands, we returned to the Monster Nation.