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Chapter 127

And so, over the course of several days, we returned to the Dragon Village.

Using the communication orb that Lilith had, we urgently contacted the Dragon King, Master Liu Hai, and Merlin to regroup and reassess the situation.

「Things are getting heavy, huh? Even I’m surprised,」said the Dragon King in the conference room of his mansion. And there is one more person, who despite munching on rice crackers, was none other than my master, Liu Hai. There was no tension on his face. Rather, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

「Why do you look so happy? 」

「Huh? Because we get to fight Lute, right? I mean, even I can’t go all out against my comrades like Merlin and the Dragon King.」

Yeah, I knew that, but still, this guy is like a warrior race or something, a brute force type… Why does he dress like a woman, though? And to top it off, he’s beautiful, which is so annoying.

「But what are we going to do now?」

Merlin, Lilith’s master and a forbidden magic user, spoke up.

「Hmm, we shall wait.」

She’s smaller than Lilith and said to have lived for a thousand years… The term ‘loli baba’ fits her perfectly.

Merlin and Lilith, master and apprentice, looked so similar in their petite stature. I burst out laughing the first time I heard about it.

Well, if I actually laughed in front of them, they might just annihilate me with a nuclear attack, but still…

「What do you mean by wait?」

「As they are attempting to activate the Cradle, the final destination should be here.」

「Huh? What do you mean?」

「To activate the Cradle, they need the sacred gems of the Four Holy Beasts that protect this world. It’s a drastic measure enforced by the system to forcibly control the population. Since the system’s original purpose is to protect humanity, safety measures are necessary.」

「The reincarnators have spent a long time eliminating the guardians who protect the system, right?」

「Exactly. In other words, besides becoming the ruler of the nation as the activation condition, a trigger guarded by the guardians is necessary.」

「And that trigger is the sacred gem.」

「Well, yes, that’s the gist of it. Originally, we were considering maintaining the current system and even had plans to eliminate the Outer Gods, the annihilator. Technically, the three of us have been discussing those strategies for a long time. Well, it ultimately proved impossible, but…」

「Wait, what’s the current situation then?」

「When we decided to abandon the nanomachines as weapons, we chose a path outside of the system’s control. But what’s the current situation?」

「It’s when the population and civilization have progressed too much, and the Outer Gods comes to destroy everything, right?」

「Yeah, but what if the inhabitants of the sandbox had a way to counter the annihilator?」

「…They would eliminate the enemy and that’s it.」

「That’s the idea. If they could exploit a bug in the system… Well, that was a possibility, but now it’s just talk.」

「So, what does that mean in the end?」

「When we decided to choose the method of disarmament, we took various preemptive measures.」

「And that’s the sacred gem?」

「That’s right. We’ve already secured the Suzaku and Genbu gems before they could seize them. They probably can only conduct experiments within a very limited area.」

「I see. So, that’s why we’re waiting?」

At that moment, Lilith muttered under her breath,

「So you couldn’t understand even after we explain it this far. You’re truly a brute.」

「Shut up!」

Arguing here won’t get us anywhere.

「In essence, Moses and his group will definitely come to take the gems, right?」

The Dragon King raised three fingers.

「There are three reasons. First, the mass-produced heroes will likely be used to suppress each country.」

「Even if the reincarnators and Lute are strong, in multi-front operations, lacking numbers will prolong the process, right?」

「That’s right. Next… it’s because we’re too powerful.」

「Too powerful?」

「While the reincarnators indeed possess unique skills, individually their stats aren’t that remarkable. Consequently, the risk is too high for them to venture out on their own.」

「They’re attempting to change the world without risking their own lives…? Are the people from Lute’s original world all rotten to the core?」

「Likely, the rulers of this world are no different. Shifting the risk onto others and seizing only the benefits is the wisdom of the strong.」

「I don’t want to acknowledge such wisdom.」

「I agree. I, too, am a proud dragon who places great importance on battle.」

With a stern expression, the Dragon King took a deep breath.

「The last reason is that, actually, I was planning to take preemptive action with the Dragon Army and the Adventurer Guild… as the Grand Guild Master. They would have likely subdued various countries by force and then seized power to fulfill the conditions for activating the Cradle. So, I was moving to prevent that.」

「And then?」

「One of the dragon bases was crushed by Lute… It happened in the blink of an eye. That’s where Lute’s transformation into a demon was confirmed.」

Upon hearing this, Master Liu Hai whistled.

「Come to think of it, that Moses guy’s research was about artificial evolution! He finally did it! This is getting interesting!」

「Um… what does demonization mean?」

「The system bug we’ve been researching all along. Well, it’s the pinnacle of power Lute was aiming for. He didn’t quite reach it even with the God Eater skill, but…」

「 …?」

「Well, you know about the Ultimate Goblin, right?」

「The epitome of disaster, isn’t it?」

「Yeah, it’s a species that exists as an evolutionary destination in the system but cannot evolve. So, they’re magical creatures that don’t naturally occur. It’s the pinnacle of goblins. In the system event known as the Great Calamity, the evolution of an entire species by one stage is a requirement.」

「I see, I see.」

「And the same goes for humans. The hero evolves into a demon, and then above that is the human-demon emperor.」

「The human-demon emperor?」

By the way, originally Moses was considering turning me into that, right? Well, that’s beside the point.

「So, does that mean Lute has become even stronger?」

「Yeah, probably. He’s about three times as troublesome now.」

「Three times…?」

「All stats have increased by 50%. Plus, he has automatic healing abilities to the extent that even an Ogre Emperor would flee barefoot at the brink of death, resurrecting instantly from fatal wounds as long as he has MP.」

「…Isn’t he invincible then? Do we have to keep attacking until his MP runs out? Against Lute? And doesn’t he have, like, an MP of a million or something…? He’s a real monster, isn’t he!?」

To my words, Master Liu Hai grinned from ear to ear.

「By the way, Lute can absorb magical elements from the atmosphere using sage techniques, so his MP replenishes endlessly.」

「Yeah, it’ll likely be carried out with Lute as their maximum force.」

「How do you know it’s Lute? Aren’t there reincarnators and a plethora of mass-produced heroes as well?」