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At first, I was astounded, but if I thought about it more deeply for a moment, I found it to be less and less strange.

Indeed, since he was the person who imagined the Otherworld in the beginning and manifested it into reality, it didn\'t seem totally out of the question for him to be seen here... But, unlike when this world belonged solely within his dreams, it was now \'real\'.

At least, as real as Earth is.

That\'s why, the authority one might ordinarily possess within their dreams should no longer apply.

He might have an inherent link to the Otherworld as one of its creators, which is what led to him being the Hero that was summoned, but that doesn\'t mean he holds any real power here.

Or, that should have been the case.

"Hm. So, that\'s the Hero, huh..."

"..."

However, even from here, I could tell that it wasn\'t.

The emanating aura, similar to that of the Vagabond Knight and Lord of the East―the Hero appeared to have reaped some benefits just for being summoned.

All the Heroes of the past; they weren\'t summoned because they were powerful.

No, the very act of the summoning itself is what gave them power.

And just as all those dozens of Heroes who stood before him, Yuu Shimura was the same.

Someone who was useless on Earth by himself had become a Transcendent of the Otherworld in the blink of an eye.

"But, what\'s he gonna do now? The Demon King is dead, so it\'s impossible to follow the pattern of sacrificing himself to save humanity like in the past..."

Hearing the monologic mutters of Kolo Tjahn beside me, I couldn\'t help but begin to regret my previous impulsive actions.

Yuu Shimura, the moment he discovers my existence in this world, is likely to try and prevent me from escaping at any cost.

If I didn\'t just spontaneously kill the Demon King on a whim, then I could\'ve let him simply tackle it head-on as the Hero, leading to a mutual defeat and taking care of the problem in a natural manner without needing to spare so much as a glance.

Now, though, there is no Demon King.

I can\'t simply revive the Demon King either, even with Reality, as destroying something is infinitely easier than constructing it, and bringing someone erased from the world back to life is such a difficult task that I don\'t think even Selina with her Measurement of Life would be able to handle it, at least not with her current capabilities.

If Yuu Shimura ends up getting in my way because of that, then I\'ll have to deal with him myself.

Even still, there shouldn\'t be a need for me to go that far just yet.

If this Otherworld was still maintained in the form of a dream then things may have been different, but because it is firmly established in what we know as reality, it shouldn\'t be possible for him to return to Earth with his own power, just like me.

Even including his newfound power as the Hero, he shouldn\'t possess that kind of ability, after all.

Because, thinking about it more rationally, wouldn\'t humanity have perished if the Hero could do that? All of the previous Heroes would have simply returned to their homeworlds if they could choose to do so, rather than sacrifice themselves for a society they have no relation to who kidnapped them.

It makes no sense for any situation other than that to be the case, and so it must be so.

Thus, I only need to think of him as being stuck here like me, and he poses no threat.

In fact, if he wishes to return to Earth, then he must rely on me as the only one who knows how.

Of course, I would never let that happen, though.

As for what the Hero will be tasked with doing once the death of the Demon King has been uncovered...

"...Eradicating the Nightmares."

"Hm?" Kolo Tjahn turned to me. "Do you mean the Hero? I suppose it makes sense, considering the demons don\'t pose a threat any more. Well, isn\'t society under the impression that the Nightmares are part of the Demon King\'s forces? So, it\'s a natural conclusion to think that the Hero will be tasked with slaying them."

That\'s right. If the Demon King is no more, then all that\'s left is to put an end to the remnants.

Even though the Nightmares are completely unrelated to the demons and the Demon King, humanity doesn\'t need to care about small details like that.

So long as they \'think\' they are related, that\'s all that matters.

By extension, I\'m sure they will soon plan to have Yuu Shimura take down the Nightmare King whenever it appears.

Wait...

"Kolo Tjahn. Do you recall the Nightmare King from the 10th Floor Trial?"

The instant the words left my mouth, his expression turned dark.

"...It\'s been a very, very long time since I set foot on the 10th Floor, but that\'s something that\'ll never leave my mind."

"That thing... Was a monster; unlike anything I\'d ever seen."

"I thought things might be different if I grew as a mage, but I got it the opposite way round―It was only after becoming a full-fledged Archwizard that I realised just how absurd of a creature it was."

"Having faced so many Transcendents recently and comparing them, I hold no doubts that none of them even come close... But, maybe that\'s just bias."

I asked to confirm his opinion on the matter as an Archwizard more or less on par with the Transcendents, and it seemed about what I expected.

After visiting almost every Transcendent over the past few weeks, I took note of the fact that not one of them gave such an overwhelming impression as the Nightmare King.

It wasn\'t something totally out of the question since not every Transcendent is the same or comes from the same world, but it felt like an important detail to note.

Perhaps it was because of the Nightmare King\'s identity.

\'The Lord of Dreaded Purgatory and Eternal Torment, Nightmare King has awoken.\'

\'If Nightmare King is not eliminated, all worlds, equal under one, will gradually be consumed and ultimately terminated.\'

\'Before Nightmare King devours the world, identify its target destination.\'

Thinking back, I recalled what the Magic Tower had set for the 10th Floor Trial\'s Phase Two clear condition, as well as how it described the Nightmare King itself.

At the time, it was not entirely clear what the phrase, "all worlds, equal under one" meant, but in retrospect, the truth is now clear.

The Reworked Theory of World Stages, developed by the Ancient Sage of the Magic Tower, states it simply―That all worlds beneath the Highest Existence are seen as equal.

The Nightmare King will travel between endless worlds, devour them, and move on, repeating until nothing remains.

But, what will happen at that point? Will it simply starve and perish?

Somehow, the thought that such a being would end so pitifully brings me doubt.

Taking everything into account, I\'m inclined to think that maybe it is all part of the Nightmare King\'s plan, or perhaps more simply, its nature.

If, by devouring world after world, the Nightmare King only grows in power and presence, that would easily explain why it is so much more tremendous than any of the other Transcendents. It would also provide an explanation for why it aims to eat them all.

No doubt, the Nightmare King\'s goal is to devour every equalised world.

Then, is its ultimate objective to travel to and devour the world of the Highest Existence?

If such a thing was possible, I cannot imagine they would sit still and let the Nightmare King run its course, destroying the nature of everything and everywhere.

But, what if they are not aware?

"..."

What is fate?

Is it the Highest Existence? Or something created by the Highest Existence?

Perhaps, as I had thought in the past, fate was something that protected the flow of the world, to ensure that everything went just as the Highest Existence desired.

There is no way to know for sure, but is it possible that the Highest Existence is not even involved with fate?

If the Highest Existence does not interfere, or in other words, if fate is the only thing protecting these worlds, then it could very well be possible to penetrate through such a one-line defence.

Thinking in reverse, could it also be possible that it is the fate of all worlds to be devoured by the Nightmare King?

And, if any of these scenarios were the case.

Would the Highest Existence then be within reach?

If the Nightmare King, an anomalous lower existence, has the potential to reach that high, could I not also attain such potential?

Maybe, by following the footsteps of the Nightmare King...

With Reality on my side, I foresee a future wherein such a path can be taken.

"Oh, Cee. Looks like the ceremony\'s over."

Just as Kolo Tjahn said, I glanced around and noticed the bustling crowd ever-so-slowly begin to diminish and scatter.

Now that the Hero had officially been summoned, everyone was being told to go home or celebrate elsewhere as the Hero had to be \'initiated and prepared for the battles that lay ahead\'.

It was an understandable ask, as the empire needed to ensure the streets of its capital city were all clear of loiterers getting in the way.

The Hero Festival would still be ongoing for the next few days, it seems, but that was of no importance to me.

"We visited almost all the other Transcendents, so will we ask the Hero too?"

Hearing Kolo Tjahn\'s question, I thought to myself for a moment.

I originally planned to get the help of the Hero to return to Earth―that\'s why I\'m here attending the summoning ceremony, after all―but now that the Hero\'s identity has been revealed to be Yuu Shimura, things inevitably have to change.

There\'s no way I\'m going to give Yuu Shimura any clues as to where in the Otherworld I am or what I\'m doing, let alone confront him directly.

Of course, I could always force him to send me home regardless, but like I said before, I\'m pretty confident the Hero doesn\'t even have that ability. Even if he did, I\'m not going to risk him finding out anything about me.

If he could send me back to Earth, then the chances would be high that he could send himself back too, which only heightens the risk to myself.

Assuming he can send himself back at least, it doesn\'t really change anything; now that he\'s here, I don\'t think he would waste the opportunity to return to Earth without at least getting some idea of what I\'m up to first.

Like a game of cat and mouse, I only have to avoid him while he chases me.

Except, unlike an ordinary game of cat and mouse, the stage is an entire world, and I have an Archwizard with me to teleport me wherever I please.

A game where the cat is at such an unprecedented disadvantage cannot possibly be lost, and so there is nothing to be concerned about.

"No, we\'re not going to involve ourselves with the Hero."

In any case, now that the previous plan of using the Hero was scrapped, I had to move to my next target instead.

"Take me as close to the Elven Forest as you can."

Rather than the Hero, whom I only ever prioritised because of his generational reputation, there was one Transcendent I had left for last due to the inaccessible magic barrier.

The Transcendent I had previously marked as most likely to send me to Earth.

"We\'re going to pay a visit to the World Tree."