n

n

n

n

"Why are you telling me this?

" Souta asked.

n

"You're under my Third Set, so if you become a Hero, the Third Set will also benefit. Allocated resources will increase, and a lower world will be put under our care,

" Vandal replied.

n

"I understand. I will try,

" Souta nodded.

n

"That's good. Just don't forget to make a good impression on the higher-ups. I'm sure you've met some of the Division Commanders, so I'll leave the rest in your hands. Show them why you should be the one to become a Hero.

"

n

"I'll remember,

" Souta said.

nVandal was heading to the battlefield. If he found an opportunity there, he could probably reach Eight Shackle faster. If only he could learn some Archetype, then his combat prowess would rise even without reaching Eight Shackle.

n...

nIn an unknown place, Sanaamon sat in a chair with a faint smile on his face. Sitting in front of him was Organ Asseilin, the Commandment of Faith.

n

"You've destroyed the Walpurgis Night?

" Organ asked.

n

"Indeed. My avatar managed to escape the seal, but it wasn't easy. I had to personally destroy it. The secrets there should never be released,

" Sanaamon replied.

n

"Morgan Le Fay... That witch. She tried to learn about the forbidden things in the world. It's not good for us, as it will shorten the time,

" Organ said.

n

"What about the Four Authorities?

" Sanaamon asked.

n

"Aleteya's avatar was defeated before she could even obtain the Map of Famine. Well, it's nothing to worry about, since deciphering the map is not easy.

"

n

"What about you?

" Sanaamon asked.

n

"I'm still in the middle of planning to turn the whole Ruin Desolate upside down. Just don't get in my way, or I'll have to kill you,

" Organ said in a cold tone.

nSanaamon laughed and replied,

"As long as you don't get in my way either. That's the rule of God's Will. We will not interfere with each other's agendas. Also, I'm planning to sit back for a while and watch how Gluttony will handle the Holy Lands.

"

n

"Gluttony, huh? I remember how the previous Aspect of Gluttony died. It seems the current one is quite courageous.

"

n

"Courageous? Yes, he's a courageous fellow. He even dared to order Lucifer to stop the Heavenly Demon Palace's invasion. I wonder how things will turn out.

"

n

"It's the same as before. Gluttony will fall if he doesn't have a better plan. Fighting the Holy Lands alone is impossible unless you have some sort of strategy. If it were easy to destroy the Holy Lands, they would've fallen long ago. The only question is how much damage he'll cause to the Holy Lands before he falls.

"

nOrgan leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"The last outburst has occurred, and the Walpurgis Night has perished. The Call of the Witch shall not happen in this era.

"

n

"Call of the Witch, huh? So, do you want to find the two remaining Great Knights and Merlin? They're erasing all traces of themselves, making them difficult to find,

" Sanaamon said. He added,

"I even thought they would appear when I destroyed the Walpurgis Night, but I didn't detect their traces at all. They've completely abandoned the Walpurgis Night.

"

n...

nMeanwhile, in an unknown place, Eztein, Franklin, and Vashno stood in the middle of a vast forest.

n

"We've successfully descended,

" Vashno muttered.

nEztein looked at his palm and commented,

"This place is too fragile. Are you sure this is the place the boss was talking about?

"

nThe three of them had arrived in an unknown lower world. Souta hadn't given them much information about this place, only that they needed to find some treasure and investigate it.

nTreasure... Souta had said they would recognize it once they saw it, as its class wouldn't belong to lower world standards.

nFranklin looked around, scanning the area with his mana.

"I think we're in a pocket dimension. The space here is limited,

" he said.

n

"Now that you mention it, there are dozens of creatures living here,

" Eztein said, also scanning the area. He then raised his hand and added,

"Let's get out of here.

"

nHis hand pierced through the fabric of space, causing an energy fluctuation to erupt as a spatial rift formed in front of them.

n

"How sweet! I can't do this in Imperium, but now I feel like I can do anything in a lower dimension,

" Eztein laughed, seeing the spatial rift ahead.

nVashno glanced at him and said,

"You'll be surprised by how much a being at your level can influence a lower dimension.

"

nThe three of them stepped forward into the spatial rift.

nThey exited the pocket dimension and found themselves facing a group of armed people on the other side, who were looking at them warily.

n

"It seems that tearing through the pocket dimension caused a disturbance among the locals of this world,

" Vashno commented, observing the people in front of them.

n

"So what should we do?

" Eztein asked.

n

"We just need to knock them out. People like them will collapse under this much pressure,

" Vashno replied, raising his hand.

nHis mana erupted instantly, causing the armed people in front of them to collapse before they could even react.

nThe three then left the area.

nAs they walked, Vashno explained more about the lower dimension. He had originally been a being from a lower dimension too, and he was like a god there, capable of traveling from world to world. It was during one of these travels that he was summoned to the sub-world of the Mother Universe, where he first met Souta.

nThey weren't as restricted in this universe compared to the Mother Universe. It felt like they were on top of thin ice that could collapse with just one wrong move. Some beings from Imperium would become intoxicated with the god-like powers they could achieve in the lower dimensions, sometimes choosing not to return to Imperium as they enjoyed their lives as gods in the lower dimensions.

nThe trio toured around and discovered that this place was quite advanced. It reminded Franklin of the Great Astley Empire that they had destroyed in the past. The only difference was that the technology here was lower than the empire's, so they weren't capable of

nplanetary travel.

n

"So how do we find that treasure, and what are we supposed to investigate?

" Eztein asked.

"Let's not hurry. We just need to take one step at a time,

" Vashno said.

n...

nIn Ekatoe City.

nChief Captain Vandal left after bidding farewell to Souta. Souta understood what Vandal

nwanted him to do.

nHe leaned back in his chair, thinking that he should go to the Champion's Den next week since

nhe had nothing else to do.

nAfter gaining the approval of the higher-ups, Souta needed to accomplish at least one significant task in the war for them to likely choose him as the next Hero of Goddess Athena.

nKnock! Knock!

nA knock sounded at the door.

n

"Come in,

" Souta said. He had already sensed that it was Alice.

nThe door opened, and Alice entered the room. She looked at him before sitting down on the

nvacant chair.

n

"How is it?

" Souta asked.

n

"Amanda said she wants to use the Nightmare Mask to travel to Vanko and gain power from

ndreams,

" Alice replied.

n

"What do you think, Alice?

"

n

"Most of the lower-ranking Sovereigns in Vanko are occupied by us and the demis there. Targeting higher-ranking Sovereigns would be quite dangerous given Amanda's current

nstrength.

"

n

"Hmm... Kessa,

" Souta said, and a snake popped her head out of his sleeve. It was Kessa, who

nwrapped herself around his arm.

n

"What is it?

" Kessa asked meekly.

n

"I think you should accompany Amanda into the Dream Realm. Also, if possible, I want you to conquer the top 10 Sovereigns in Vanko. It's time we establish Vanko as the third headquarters

nof the Astros,

" Souta said.

n

"Conquer Vanko?

" Alice asked incredulously.

nSouta looked at Alice and nodded.

"We should start slowly. Begin by defeating the Rank 10 Sovereign first, then proceed step by step up to the Rank 1 Sovereign.

"

"What about the people? How can we relocate them to Vanko?

" Alice inquired.

n

"We'll figure that out later. Currently, we can't bring anyone to the Dream Realm with our

ncurrent abilities. The witches could do it because they had powerful experts in their ranks in the past, which allowed them to hide in the Dream Realm.

"

nSouta smiled at Kessa and said,

"Accompany Amanda. Since I'm here, you don't have to guard

nEkatoe City for a while.

"

nKessa nodded and quickly left the room.

nSouta stood up and turned to Alice.

"I'm going to visit Eilish and Eilan for a while. Do you

nhave anything to report?

"

n

"Hmm... Isabella and Torkez wanted to see you. It seems their research has yielded some

nresults,

" Alice replied.

n

"I see... I'll check on it later,

" Souta said with a sigh.

nAs the leader of the group, there were many things he needed to personally oversee to ensure

nthey were on track.

n

"It's quite troublesome, but having people work for me has its advantages too.

"

n

n