On the narrow path, a carriage raced along the road.
Inside the carriage, Naohara sat cross-legged, shrouded in black mist, carefully sensing the changes within himself.
Several days had passed since the young dragon's birth.
After returning to Nazarick that day, Naohara first instructed Demiurge to continue executing the Dragon Creation Project.
He then held discussions with Momonga and Herohero, finalizing their respective plans.
Herohero would carry the Vampiric Dragon Lord and search for the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord's whereabouts.
Momonga, meanwhile, took a rare vacation for himself.
The Sorcerer Kingdom was now under the interim administration of the new Prime Minister, Renner, while Nazarick was managed by Albedo.
With little immediate business, Momonga decided to wander the mortal realm for leisure.
As for Naohara, he proceeded according to the original plan and headed to the Slane Theocracy with the former Black Scripture.
He intended to hold a thorough discussion regarding compensation.
Before his departure, Momonga and Herohero specifically presented Naohara with several World-Class Items.
They said this was a precaution against any unknown trump cards the Theocracy might possess.
After all, it was a nation founded by the Six Great Gods, who were fellow Players. It was better to be safe than sorry.
"Still not quite enough..."
Inside the carriage, Naohara slowly opened his eyes.
He then deftly summoned his status panel.
Having absorbed the Curse of the World, he could now clearly sense how much he had grown compared to before.
[Magic Detection]
Name: Naohara
Race: Young Dragon lv10 Wyrmling lv10 Adult Dragon lv10 Ancient Dragon lv10 Primordial Dragon lv5 Extreme Demigod Dragon lv5 ???
Class: Sword Saint lv10 Dragon Magic Caster lv10 Catastrophe Dominator lv6 Wild Magic Caster lv5 World Connector lv5 Dragonslayer lv5? ? ?
Title: World Favored One
Level: 100+2 (Race Level + Class Level + Bonus Level)
Karma: -390
His race remained unchanged, but it was the classes and Karma that caught Naohara's attention.
[Catastrophe Dominator]
Originally capped at Lv5, this class had somehow broken through the limit and reached Lv6.
The same applied to his Karma, which had plummeted from -200 to -390.
Naohara had no doubt that if this trend continued, his Karma would eventually reach rock bottom.
He would become a -500 Ultimate Evil like Momonga and Herohero.
Within the Yggdrasil game mechanics, Karma directly influenced skill damage.
Some spells became stronger with higher Goodness, while others grew more destructive with greater Evilness.
Catastrophe Magic, born from the Curse of the World, belonged to the latter category. The lower the Karma, the greater the power.
Take Ulbert, known as the Demon of Great Disaster. His Karma stood at -500.
During his gaming days, through the race "Catastrophe Dragonoid," Naohara also possessed some Catastrophe Magic, and his Karma once dropped to -500.
However, shortly before his transmigration, he used Cash Shop Items to adjust it.
He turned -500 into +15.
Although this slightly reduced the power of his Catastrophe Magic, he did it without hesitation.
After all, analysis of the original work suggested that Karma influenced NPCs.
Its effect on Players remained unclear, but he believed it was safer to be cautious.
However, through his observations during this period, Naohara realized he had overthought things.
Compared to the game era where NPCs were strictly scripted, Players themselves seemed unaffected by Karma.
The only real influence on Players came from their racial instincts.
This conclusion actually brought him some relief.
"100+2... Even after devouring the Curse of the World, I still haven't truly broken past the level one hundred limit?"
"Tsk. What a hassle."
Breaking the level one hundred barrier was far more troublesome than Naohara had expected.
Still, he did not worry about it too much. He already had two possible solutions in mind.
The first was the Power of Faith.
It was a very peculiar force, capable of producing miraculous results. Based on previous testing, it was highly likely that it could break the level one hundred limit.
However, considering the saying that faith could be poisonous, he had no plans to pursue that option for now.
The second option was to continue absorbing the Curse of the World.
As long as the source of Catastrophe continued to grow stronger, he might eventually use it to transform himself and make the ultimate leap.
Personally, Naohara preferred the second approach over relying on the Power of Faith.
Even so, research into the Power of Faith could not be abandoned.
After all, Momonga and Herohero could not strengthen themselves by absorbing the Curse of the World the way he could.
"Oh~ Naohara-sama, are you awake?"
A slightly exaggerated voice sounded from outside the carriage.
The curtain was pulled aside, revealing a peculiar looking figure dressed in a German military uniform, moving with conspicuously theatrical gestures.
"Thanks for accompanying me on this trip. It must be frustrating not being able to polish the treasures."
Naohara smiled faintly at the bowling ball shaped face in front of him.
Pandora's Actor.
The guardian of the Treasury, responsible for protecting Nazarick's treasures, and also the one in charge of Nazarick's finances.
Since having a single guardian might appear a little lonely, Momonga added the setting that Pandora's Actor "enjoys polishing treasures" when creating him.
As a specialized Doppelganger, Pandora's Actor possessed the ability to copy and transform.
He could assume up to forty five different forms, each capable of using eighty percent of the original's abilities. Among these were forty two forms corresponding to the forty two Supreme Beings of Nazarick.
Naturally, that included Naohara as well.
Whether for infiltration, offense, or defense, his transformations made him extremely versatile.
Aside from a few special classes that could not be replicated, Pandora's Actor could be considered an all purpose NPC.
That was why Naohara deliberately brought him along for this journey to the Slane Theocracy.
"Oh~ You flatter me, Na↗ohara↑-sa~~ma↑~!"
"Es ist mir eine Ehre, der höchsten Autorität zu dienen!"
Pandora's Actor adjusted the brim of his hat and fluently delivered a line of German.
Then he bent slightly at the waist, expressing his respect with an extremely exaggerated gesture.
Pfft.
Naohara still had no idea what Momonga had been thinking back then when he added a German language template.
If Momonga were here right now, he would probably want to purge his own creation out of embarrassment again.
Naohara smiled, but perhaps because he was too amused, the familiar green light flickered across his body.
"Tsk."
Naohara clicked his tongue but did not deactivate [Dragonic Will].
To prevent the Curse of the World from possibly affecting his personality, he kept it active during this period just to be safe.
Although he, Herohero, and Momonga were all influenced by their races, their attitudes toward it were completely different.
Herohero chose to accept the subconscious changes.
Momonga simply ignored them and did not pay much attention.
Naohara, however, tried to keep them under control.
The effects of these different approaches were already quite noticeable.
Herohero had grown increasingly fond of buffet style meals, while Momonga had become more and more indifferent toward people outside Nazarick.
However, because Naohara was around, both of them tried to restrain themselves.
For example, Herohero would resurrect those he had eaten afterward, and Momonga constantly reminded himself not to toy with life, avoiding meaningless slaughter.
"By the way, Pandora's Actor, what do you think of the other Supreme Beings?"
After a moment of silence, Naohara suddenly remembered something.
Albedo had recently been organizing tea gatherings quite frequently. Besides Sephis, Pandora's Actor also seemed to be participating.
Thinking of the Supreme Being Search Team from the original story, Naohara asked with an implied meaning.
"Huh?"
Pandora's Actor, who had been acting theatrically just moments ago, froze in surprise.
***
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