Inside the meeting room.
"Momonga, do you still remember the world-class item I crafted back then?"
Helant leaned back casually in his chair, looking across at Momonga with a relaxed smile.
"Of course I remember," Momonga replied, the red glow in his eye sockets flickering with faint amusement. "The [Faith Pool]. I put in quite a bit of effort helping you gather materials for it too."
Momonga recalled that this man-made world-class item—the only one of its kind officially recognized by YGGDRASIL—had a single, deceptively simple function:
To collect so-called Faith Power from believers and convert it into energy that could permanently strengthen attributes and, in theory, break through level limits.
In practice, though, its performance in the game had been abysmal. The user had to constantly add friends, bind relationships, and maintain social connections to generate even trickle amounts of Faith Power.
Worse, the number of required bindings scaled infinitely—making it the ultimate white elephant: useless among useless items. Most players mocked it as a novelty at best, a complete waste at worst.
"Why bring it up now?" Momonga asked, tilting his skeletal head. "Does it tie into your next plan?"
With a casual thought from Helant, holy light bloomed softly from his chest—the precise location where the Heart of the Sanctuary resided. Since crossing over, he had discovered that the item could merge directly into his body, effectively allowing him to carry a small, self-contained world within himself at all times.
Helant willed the Faith Pool to emerge. The gold-and-silver orb floated out, shrinking to the size of a large apple before settling on the table between them.
"I haven't told you the full details yet," Helant said, "but since the crossover, my [Faith Pool] no longer relies on establishing friend relationships to collect faith like it did in the game…"
As he spoke, he guided the orb to hover in midair.
Momonga could clearly see a layer of pure white, silk-like threads spreading within the gold-and-silver sphere—like a thin, luminous water membrane slowly expanding.
"This is the Faith Power produced recently by the NPCs of Nazarick and the hundred thousand Sanctuary Demons within my Heart of the Sanctuary. In just one day, it can generate over a hundred points. That's something that might not have been achieved in ten years back in YGGDRASIL."
!!! Momonga sat stunned in his chair. He had no real frame of reference for what "over a hundred points" truly meant in practical terms, but the implications were staggering.
"Let me demonstrate for you."
Helant drew a measured hundred points of Faith Power from the pool, condensing it into a radiant sphere. With a gentle mental push, he guided the orb directly into Momonga's body.
The next second—
Boom!
Momonga's aura suddenly erupted outward, his presence growing noticeably stronger in an instant, as though an invisible weight had been lifted from his very existence.
Momonga: [LV: 100 (Progress: 0.1%)] All Attributes Enhanced: +0.1%
"This is… a permanent attribute enhancement!?"
The red light in Momonga's eye sockets flared brilliantly as he stared at Helant in genuine excitement.
For level-100 players in YGGDRASIL, attributes had been essentially fixed after max level—aside from equipment swaps, there was no further growth. That was normal for a game.
But in this real world, having an upper limit locked felt profoundly insecure.
Imagine facing an enemy only slightly stronger than you, knowing you could never surpass them because your potential was capped forever. Your life and death would remain eternally in someone else's hands—an unbearable position.
Yet now, Helant San's [Faith Pool] offered real hope.
At the same time, Momonga understood exactly why Helant had chosen to establish the persona of a "Holy Domain God Lord."
"So your plan is to have the people of this world believe in the 'Holy Domain God Lord'—generating Faith Power that feeds back into us, right?" Momonga said.
Helant smiled and nodded. "Exactly. You heard Nigun's intelligence. Players have come here before. There are items left behind by past Players—even world-class items—and Dragon Lords capable of contending with level-100s."
"If we can continuously absorb Faith Power to strengthen ourselves, then in the long run, we'll become truly invincible."
"Furthermore," Momonga added, a teasing note entering his voice, "setting up two factions that appear as incompatible as fire and water will confuse any enemies hiding in the shadows. The Sorcerer King, eh? It seems you want me to play the villain, Helant-san."
After Helant's demonstration, Momonga had quickly grasped the key limitation: Faith Power could only be generated through establishing a faith relationship with Helant himself.
"Aww~ Don't mind it," Helant said with a grin, retracting the [Faith Pool] back into his chest. "Your appearance is only suited for playing the villain anyway."
"That's indeed the case. Helant-san, since you've decided to collect faith, have you chosen which group?" Momonga already suspected the answer but asked anyway.
"Humans," Helant replied without hesitation. "They have the largest population base, and Nigun's intelligence shows they're suffering—bullied by Dragon Lords, by Demon Gods, by other races." A look of exaggerated pity crossed his face, almost theatrical. "With them being so pitiful, when I—the savior—descend upon the world, won't that Faith Power flow easily into my grasp?"
"Hmm.. Speaking of Nigun's intelligence," Momonga continued, his tone shifting to something more serious, "I've been wanting to tell you something about Players. If others can descend… could our other guildmates have come to this world as well? Maybe on a different timeline than us?"
His voice carried genuine anticipation and a flicker of joy.
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. There had been forty-two guild members. What if someone else had been online at the very last moment?
Helant raised an eyebrow. He very nearly said, Momonga, you're overthinking it. But after a moment's consideration, he held back. It was good to let the guy hold onto a little hope.
After a brief pause, Momonga continued, "I've decided to send Sebas and Solution to the Re-Estize Kingdom first to gather intelligence."
Sebas and Solution had relatively steady personalities, and their appearances passed perfectly as ordinary humans—ideal for infiltration and information collection.
After another pause, he added, "Also, the 'Martial Arts' of this world are completely different from the warrior skills in YGGDRASIL. We need to understand them properly. How about sending Shalltear to investigate that aspect?"
Shalltear?
Helant frowned slightly. In the original plot he remembered, this silly girl had a notorious history of being charmed by [Downfall of Castle and Country] and nearly turning against everyone—only to be subdued by Momonga in a brutal duel.
"That works," Helant said after a moment. "Call them all here. I'll summon Demiurge to assign some tasks as well."
…
"Greetings, Supreme Beings!"
In short order, Shalltear, Sebas, Solution, and Demiurge appeared before the two of them, kneeling in perfect unison.
After Momonga finished assigning tasks to Shalltear, Sebas, and Solution, Helant produced three deep-blue crystal beads from his inventory.
"These are [World Barriers] I've refined. Each can block the negative effects of a world-class item once. Keep them safe."
Although all three received one, the gift was primarily intended for Shalltear.
The [World Barriers] were, in truth, ordinary defensive items at base.
However, Helant's ultra-rare class [World Alchemist] allowed him to imbue them with the temporary ability to contend with world-class effects—specifically countering single-use control items like [Downfall of Castle and Country].
Helant had no desire to fight Shalltear—neither he nor Momonga did. After all, five hundred million gold coins was an enormous sum, even for Nazarick.
"So pretty~ Thank you, Lord Helant-arinsu!"
Shalltear acted cute without a shred of shame, cradling the bead like a treasure.
Creak!
Demiurge clenched his fist so hard his gloves creaked, barely restraining himself from exploding on the spot.
Shalltear. Lord Helant is most worried about you.
Among the Guardians, Shalltear was arguably the most powerful in pure combat strength—rivaled only by Herox—but her [Blood Frenzy] introduced dangerous unpredictability.
Lord Helant had given her such a precious safeguard precisely because he foresaw the risk.
Thinking of this, Demiurge's anger suddenly deflated.
Forget it. I'll give her a proper reminder in private. Lord Helant likely predicted what's going to happen and even predicted me predicting that he predicted all of this. He must have predicted me giving her a proper talk so he wouldn't have to! As expected of a Supreme being such as Lord Helant!
"Demiurge," Helant said, turning to the demon with a calm smile. "I need you to forge a history regarding the Sorcerer King and the Holy Domain God Lord. Set the timeline to six hundred years ago."
Hearing this, Demiurge's eyes lit up with understanding. He bowed deeply.
"Ah! Now I understand everything, Lord Helant."
Momonga tilted his head slightly, looking at Demiurge.
What exactly do you understand?