"Lord of War, Set, his ability is to absorb vitality and nutrients from the outside world."
Simply put, this Ultimate Skill had a certain connection to Set's other title, the "God of the Desert."
Wherever he passed, the land withered, all life decayed, leaving behind only barren desert.
Not only that, anyone fighting Carrion would find their spirit, stamina, and magicules rapidly draining, only to be absorbed by Carrion.
Even more terrifying, Set could permanently reduce an opponent's magicules.
Yes, permanently.
It wasn't just damaging HP. It was damaging the max HP.
And this Ultimate Skill could even be indirectly applied through others.
"For example, if I team up with you, your attacks will also carry the plundering effect of Lord of War."
Undoubtedly, the power of Lord of War, Set, as an Ultimate Skill, was extremely potent.
Single-target focus, team buffs, resistance ignored, forceful plundering of potential.
Of course, the potential seized wouldn't directly increase Carrion's strength.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be a Mid-Tier Ultimate but an Upper or even Super Upper Ultimate.
"A very strong Ultimate Skill."
Frey spoke from the heart. "Combined with your combat style, I can already see how desperate your opponents will be."
Just this Lord of War alone was powerful enough.
But this guy still had a second Ultimate.
It was really infuriating.
"What about the ability of your other Ultimate?"
Frey asked, "Lord of the Underworld, sounds like necromancy."
"No, actually, it has nothing to do with necromancy."
Carrion said, "Lord of the Underworld, Osiris. Its ability isn't suited for direct combat, but it allows me to perform soul modification, either on myself or others."
"Soul modification?"
Frey didn't quite understand. She specialized in spatial domains, and her understanding of the soul level was limited.
"Yeah."
Carrion explained, "For example, I used to be a Beastman, and you're a Harpy."
"Even if we die, our spiritual bodies still appear in our living forms."
"But, through Lord of the Underworld, I can alter forms at the soul level," Carrion said. "And that, in turn, affects our life forms."
In short, Lord of the Underworld was somewhat similar to the All-Hands technique among the Eight Extraordinary Skills.
Completing souls, modifying souls, healing souls.
And since the soul changed, the body would receive feedback and evolve accordingly.
"With this authority, I can even merge the bloodlines of different Beastmen without worrying about side effects."
Because it modified the soul rather than the body, there was no risk of rejection or incompatibility.
"Not only that..."
Carrion added, "For Beastmen created by my hand, as long as they grow, I can draw a portion of the benefits from them."
In other words, as the number of such Beastmen increased, Carrion's power would expand exponentially.
"One for combat, one for development."
Frey admitted with envy, "You little rascal, you're really rubbing it in."
Still, this was a good thing.
The stronger Carrion became, the more she could plan around him.
"From now on, you're going to follow my arrangements."
"Alright, alright."
Carrion might be better at fighting than Frey, but when it came to brains, he had to admit she was sharper. "So, what's so nerve-wracking about the Monster Nation that's got you on edge?"
"Hmph!"
Frey then gave Carrion a rough explanation of the high-level powerhouses in the Monster Nation.
As for heading directly to the Demon Lord's Hall, she felt it was too early.
She had to at least give Carrion an idea of who the strong people were.
Otherwise, if he accidentally offended someone, she would have a huge headache.
"The highest-ranking member of the Monster Nation, aside from Rin, is his aide, Lord Violet."
In Frey's eyes, Violet was completely beyond classification.
"Violet is practically Rin-sama's shadow."
You usually couldn't see her, but whenever you needed her, Violet's voice would sound.
She was practically like the Voice of the World.
You could even say Rin was a hands-off boss.
All internal affairs, personnel deployment, and world monitoring were entirely handled by Violet.
"Then there's the Frost Dragon God and the Storm Dragon God."
These two Dragon Gods had power second only to Rin and were on a whole different level compared to the other subordinates.
"Dragon God? You mean..."
Carrion asked, "And Storm Dragon God, is that the Veldora I know?"
"Your intel is outdated."
Frey replied, "A Dragon God is a being that has advanced beyond a Calamity True Dragon."
"Advanced?!"
Honestly, even after awakening as a True Demon Lord, Carrion still had a shallow understanding of Calamity True Dragons.
"Over 1 million magicules puts you in the Demon Lord Domain."
"Over 10 million enters the Calamity Domain."
Frey said, "Veldora and Velzard originally had more than 80 million magicules."
"Eighty million..."
Carrion was speechless.
Even if he used his Ultimate Skills, he might not be able to scratch them.
The sheer quality of Calamity-level magicules was despair-inducing.
"Then a Dragon God would be..."
"Over 100 million. That's the God Domain."
Frey admitted she didn't know much about the God Domain. She'd never seen that level of power herself.
But Rimuru knew it very well.
Gulp...
Just hearing that number made Carrion's throat tighten.
"You..."
Carrion said, "You're serious? You want me to compete for recognition with monsters like that?"
Even the proud Lion King couldn't help but feel fear.
Over 100 million magicules, and there were two Dragon Gods?
How were they supposed to fight?
With their heads?
"The two Dragon Gods operate on a completely different level than we do."
"They won't interfere with our affairs."
Frey finally gave him some good news. "The Velzard doesn't care about internal Cardinal World matters. Her goal is other universes."
"Other universes..."
Now that he was Rin's subordinate, Carrion had also learned part of the world's truth.
Like other worlds, the relationship between the Cardinal World and Cardinal Universe, and the essence of Ultimate Skills.
"The ones who will really compete with us are True Demon Lords, just like us."
After Frey finished, she began listing the Demon Lords' responsibilities within the Monster Nation. "Ogerpon is pretty simple. A little girl, like Milim, with no schemes."
"Her role is more mascot than executive."
So Ogerpon was harmless, loved by all, and not a threat at all.
"Then there's Rimuru. Her strength far surpasses yours and mine."
With the seven deadly sins and seven virtues, she was clearly a future Dragon God-class candidate.
Trying to compete with Rimuru was asking for a beating.
"But Rimuru is the Great Sage of the Monster Nation."
Frey said, "Like the head of the civil officials. She's busy with work and has no time to interfere in other people's business."
In other words, Rimuru was a diligent office worker.
As long as her subordinates didn't cause trouble, she'd be endlessly grateful.
Frey's goal was to get a key leadership position under Rimuru.
And her target was none other than the Finance Minister role.
Controlling the money meant controlling the power.
Whenever Rin needed something, he'd have to ask, "Frey, is the budget enough?"
At that moment, she could smile and reply, "Resources are abundant," and get praised with a "Well done, Frey."
"!!!"
Just imagining it filled Frey with joy.
"You..."
"What is it?"
Carrion said, "That's kind of twisted."
Wasn't this just a lovesick woman?
What happened to working together for the Monster Nation?
"Idiot!"
Frey slapped Carrion on the head. "What do you know? No matter how good you are, if Rin-sama doesn't see it, it's meaningless."
"As for you, I need you to secure a high-ranking post in the military!"
Carrion's talent in combat and warfare was unquestionable.
"Oh, that's no problem!"
Hearing that it was his area of expertise, Carrion immediately perked up.
"Don't get too confident."
Frey warned, "There's more than one or two True Demon Lords eyeing the military positions."
"Artoria, Snow Empress, Diablo, Carrera, Testarossa..."
None of them were easy to deal with.
If you wanted to make a name for yourself, the battlefield was your best bet.
"With your strength, you might be able to challenge Carrera."
"The others..."
Frey wasn't optimistic about Carrion's chances.
Especially Artoria, Snow Empress, and Diablo. Each had magicules close to ten million.
The first two were manageable.
Diablo, though... he didn't look like a good person at all.
Frey saw him as her biggest threat.
"Hiss~"
Listening to Frey list the True Demon Lords of the Monster Nation like a menu, Carrion inhaled sharply.
"Wait, are all the people you mentioned Awakened True Demon Lords?"
"Yes."
Frey could understand Carrion's shock.
What Ten Great Demon Lords?
How many of them were actually Awakened?
And how many had Ultimate Skills?
Compared to the Monster Nation, the Ten Great Demon Lords were a joke.
Clayman?
A corpse on display!
Frey, Carrion?
Sorry, they'd spent half their lives wandering, only now finding a true ruler.
With one addition and one subtraction, only seven of the Ten Great Demon Lords remained.
Seven versus eleven. The advantage was clear.
"I'm already looking forward to the day the Monster Nation officially appears."
Just thinking of the Ten Great Demon Lords getting benched, Carrion couldn't help laughing.
"Although I'm looking forward to it too..."
Frey said, "Can you not interrupt me?"
"Uh..."
Carrion obediently apologized. "Sorry, go on."
"Hmph!"
"Remember, Artoria and Snow Empress are already allied with me."
Frey continued, "If you run into trouble in the military, you can ask them for help. For my sake, they'll definitely support you and the Beastmen."
"You've really done a lot, huh?"
Carrion realized Frey hadn't joined long ago, but she had already built such strong connections.
"Wouldn't this kind of power-building make Rin-sama unhappy?"
"Rin-sama doesn't care about stuff like this."
Frey said, "As long as the rules are followed, it's healthy competition. It's good for the Monster Nation, and good for us."
"Alright."
Carrion thought about Rin's attitude.
As the head of the family, there were times when it was best not to interfere personally.
"Finally, and most importantly..."
"Justeaze."
In the Monster Nation, of all the people you could offend, Justeaze was not one of them.
She controlled reincarnation and soul resources. Her status was beyond question.
"So, that pure soul earlier, was refined by her?"
Carrion understood Frey's caution. Someone with that kind of strategic value could not be offended.
"Glad you understand."
Seeing that Carrion had now grasped the inner workings of the Monster Nation, Frey finally decided it was time to take him to the Demon Lord's Hall.
"Let's go. I'll take you to meet the senior members of the Monster Nation."
Leaving aside Frey, who was bringing a new recruit into the big family of the Demon Lord's Council.
Meanwhile, Rin, having returned with Velzard, was also preparing to begin his main task.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)