"The self-destruction factor really can't be ignored. Just like the Hegemonys throughout history—too rigid, too brittle."
Raize, fully focused on clearing the game, frowned as he forcibly endured the pain transmitted through sympathetic resonance throughout his body. Having already cleared one world route in the game, he sighed at the self-destruction factor.
At this moment, Nep, within his body, suddenly spoke in a somewhat inexplicable tone.
[Are you willing (with me) to walk this path? This dangerous road filled with destruction?]
Nep, who had recovered a fair amount of her strength, spoke these words while, deep within Raize's heart, appearing like a little girl—sitting on the ground, hugging her fair legs, her expression lonely yet carrying a trace of anticipation as she looked toward Raize's external expression.
Rubbing his neck, Raize heard her words, and a flicker of memory passed through his weary eyes.
Back then in the hospital, in order to gain the power to take revenge, hadn't he also been someone who would stop at nothing—even at the cost of his own life?
At that time, he had nothing left. He was a desperate outlaw with no debts and no ties. But now, he had things he cherished. Could he still make the same choice without hesitation?
Recalling the lifelong promise he had made with Eu, Raize stopped his hands on the keyboard and mouse. Warmth and tenderness flashed through his clear, cerulean eyes.
Then there was his deepening relationship with Sei, and the shipgirls in the port, filled with laughter and joy. His once hollow and starving heart felt a faint sense of fulfillment.
But all of this could still be taken away.
He absolutely would not allow any more accidents to happen.
In the future, Raize would not only encounter enemies in this world—he might even face enemies connected to Nep.
Everything he had was given to him by Nep. Naturally, he had to repay her kindness. Even if she intended to do something like destroying the world, he would not hesitate.
Born in adversity, dying in comfort. What one cherishes must be protected!
The more Raize cherished the few sincere things he had, the more his brutally realistic heart would drive him to make choices completely opposite to comfort.
"I cannot let go of my past. I cherish everything I have now, and I will not allow the future to head toward an ending I deny!"
As Raize resumed the game, his eyes were no longer gentle, but returned to the obsessive look he had when he first descended into this world.
Even if the end was destruction, so be it. Whose end is not annihilation?
Even gods are no exception. Can existences that call themselves eternal truly achieve eternity?
Back then, Raize had nothing to hold onto, so he could disregard everything.
But now, his mindset was to cherish the present and continue moving forward as always.
Every moment, every second was becoming better. If he abandoned it out of fear of the future, that was when he would truly regret it.
I live in the present—why fear the future!
---
Time passed swiftly. With his unparalleled focus, Raize finished clearing Dies Irae at nearly three in the morning.
His face was full of exhaustion, his eyes bloodshot with pain. That shared-pain resonance was no joke.
During the process, Raize had consumed some restorative medicine from his inventory to stabilize his mental state. Otherwise, the unending pain would truly have driven him insane.
At present, a ritual known as Eternal Destruction had already taken root within his body. Having cleared Dies Irae, Raize needed to make some adjustments first.
Unhurried, Raize chose to first ease his utterly exhausted mind. After resting and meditating for two hours, he finally returned to a normal state—not optimal, but sufficient.
What he gained was also extremely satisfying. Just as he had described before, he truly had obtained the foundation to ascend to the supreme.
[Congratulations, player. Game clearance complete!]
[This game's clearance rewards are:
[Holy Relic: Philosopher's Stone], [Margueritte Pillar of Justice (Soulless)], [Briah: The Rose Bearer in the Forest of Death (Der Rosenkavalier Schwarzwald)], [Briah: Apotheosis - The Fifth Universe of Gold (Gladsheimr - Gullinkambi Fünfte Weltall)], [Throne Record: Endless Moment of the Great Crimson Hell (Fragment)], [Throne Record: Twilight Reincarnation (Fragment)], [Throne Record: Sorrowful Heaven of the Morning Star (Fragment)]
For these rewards, everything up to the Universe of Gold was, in Raize's eyes, essentially guaranteed baseline loot.
The latter Throne Records, however, were rewards he could not ignore.
First was the Universe of Gold—the Hegemony Demonic City created by Reinhard in Dies Irae. Its essence was a demonic city forged from millions of war souls.
Much like Valhalla of Norse mythology, the souls within the city would endlessly slaughter one another, and the experience gained from that perpetual battle would be fed back to the city's master.
The Universe of Gold Raize obtained had a subtle difference: an issue with its fundamental composition.
There were not millions of war souls, but rather an amount of soul mass equivalent to them—in other words, there were not actually millions of individual souls.
The Universe of Gold was instead a single entity whose overall spiritual particle density rivaled that of millions. This difference did not bother Raize.
There would be no shortage of enemies in the future to fill the city with war souls.
Such a minor discrepancy paled in comparison to the advantages of the Universe of Gold. What delighted Raize most was that this city also recorded the creative powers of the original members of the Obsidian Round Table.
It could be said that by obtaining the Universe of Gold, Raize had effectively gained a large number of special abilities—multiple creative powers.
Then came the Throne Records—that is, the [Laws] recorded by the [Throne] in Dies Irae.
This was equivalent to Raize acquiring the divine marrow and godhood required for ascension. As for why these Laws were incomplete—
they were not the original divine Laws of their owners, but merely traces recorded by the Throne. Their completeness naturally could not match the original divine foundations.
After all, a divine Law was the materialization of a Hegemony God's heartfelt desire. What the divine [Throne] recorded was forever just a record, unable to reach true completeness.
Time returned to the morning. Raize sat in the computer chair, quietly sensing the true meaning of the newly integrated power within his body.
The sacred relic casually created by the Mercurial Snake—the Philosopher's Stone—took the form of a resplendent sapphire, almost as beautiful as Eu's eyes.
Within it shimmered the image of a white caduceus entwined by twin serpents. After observing it briefly, Raize swallowed it and digested it.
[Holy Relic: Philosopher's Stone]
Quality: ???
Description: A highest-tier holy relic casually created by the magician closest to truth, the Fourth Heaven's Throne Holder, Mercurius the Mercurial Snake.
Effect: The Philosopher's Stone contains the Eternal Destruction ritual, possesses two hundred thousand levels of soul mass, can analyze all techniques in the world, and comes with part of Mercurius's prideful astrological arts and other spells.
Note: An item casually created by the Mercurial Snake, bearing some of his characteristics, and resonating with another holy relic, Margueritte Pillar of Justice.
This holy relic was one of the foundations used to create the protagonist of Dies Irae, Fujii Ren.
If he chose not to fuse it and instead used an Eternal Destruction contract, pursuing the path of laws and becoming a pure sorcerer was also an option.
Raize had no interest in becoming a sorcerer. At most, it could serve as support—after all, he preferred close combat.
Thus, he directly swallowed the Philosopher's Stone, making it a complete part of himself. The Eternal Destruction ritual and various divine-domain spells were also absorbed.
Next came the task of analyzing the Laws that had merged into his body.
For the first time, his Kirby-like power encountered a slight anomaly when facing this type of power. There were no major negative effects,
but these divine Laws originated from a worldview of infinite multiverses. Subconsciously, aside from those Laws that were highly compatible with him, the others exerted some influence on him.
Therefore, Raize needed to actively adapt to and analyze them himself. This was truly the first time his Kirby-like power had encountered an issue of limited compatibility.