"There's one more thing, and it's the most important."
Damien said, "No matter how you look at it, the Cardinal World has a limited potential ceiling."
"Indeed..."
Velzard was well aware of this.
The Star King Dragon's creation plan hadn't been executed to a profound degree.
To use an analogy, it was like laying the foundation and building a house.
Damien's act of introducing new laws wasn't so much about making the Cardinal World stronger as it was about making it more luxurious.
Rather than building a new house, in the Cardinal World, Damien was, at best, renovating.
But everyone knows...
No matter how lavish the renovations, they can't change the inevitable aging of the house or the damage to its foundation.
The Cardinal World was the same.
Its growth had a ceiling. Even if its quality was enhanced, it might not allow its quantity to keep expanding.
"So, Cardinal World..."
Velzard said, "It's actually a testing ground you prepared specifically for developing the Void World?"
"Exactly."
Damien said, "Whether new rules can be introduced, and what effects they'll have after being introduced..."
He needed to test them on the Central World first.
If it worked, he could replicate it in the Void World.
Conversely, if something went wrong, Damien could identify the risks early, with only the Cardinal World taking the hit.
"So, when do you plan to bring in this world?"
"When you return from the Toaruverse."
In terms of strength and danger, among the three newly discovered worlds, the Toaruverse was undoubtedly the most intense and perilous.
Velzard wanted to go there to fight and stir things up.
Damien, of course, wouldn't stop her.
But he wouldn't go along, either.
"Got it!"
Velzard grinned. "Just watch, I'll show you how I crush those otherworld Magic Gods!"
"It's time!"
At that moment, Damien received a notification from Violet that her analysis was complete, and the God of the Void was ready to activate.
"Velzard-nee!"
"Understood!"
The girl's movements were lightning-fast.
Without waiting long, she sent over a dozen... twelve, to be exact... parallel consciousnesses.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Velzard's eyes grew brighter, clearly encountering something that excited her.
But soon, she turned her gaze back to Damien.
"How'd it go?"
"They're all dead."
Velzard smiled. "But I've got a rough sense of those Magic Gods' strength."
She admitted the Magic Gods were strong.
Her parallel consciousnesses, though each was no less powerful than the Magic Gods, were still far behind the more powerful Magic Gods.
But those avatars were merely her parallel consciousnesses, after all.
If Velzard wanted, she could create hundreds or thousands of such avatars, just like her younger sister.
"I'm going in!"
Velzard was already itching to battle the strong, to unleash the new power she'd gained from Damien.
"Alright."
Damien said, "Don't worry. If you're in real danger, I'll pull you back immediately."
There was one thing Damien didn't say aloud.
If the Magic Gods on the other side had the ability to track across universes, he was prepared to relocate the Cardinal World... or even flee with the Central World.
This wasn't cowardice; it was planning ahead.
"You really spoil Velzard, don't you, Damien?"
Violet, who had been watching their interaction, sighed softly. "The old you wouldn't have taken such risks so easily."
"Hah..."
Damien didn't deny it.
Given his personality, letting Velzard explore the Toaruverse was indeed a huge gamble.
It was like a bet.
A bet that the Magic Gods' power didn't reach the level of breaking boundaries, unable to track across worlds.
If he won the bet, he'd gain the Toaruverse's rule powers, making the God of the Void even stronger.
But if he lost, and the Magic Gods detected an otherworldly presence...
What happened next would be hard to predict.
"But we have to try, don't we?"
Rather than saying Damien was indulging Velzard without limits, betting part of his assets to support her...
It was more accurate to say he was borrowing Velzard's boldness to take a crucial step.
If it were up to Damien alone, knowing the Magic Gods' power, he wouldn't rashly make contact.
He was just that cautious.
Even though he'd reached multiversal being, he still worried about not being able to beat Magic Gods.
"And besides..."
"Knowing her," Damien said helplessly, "If something unpredictable happens, she won't drag me down with her."
Velzard wasn't the kind of selfish woman who'd act recklessly for her own thrill without considering others.
She took responsibility for her actions!
If she wanted to challenge the strong, she'd bear the potential consequences herself.
Of course, Damien would never let anything actually happen to Velzard.
At worst, he'd abandon the Cardinal World's shell.
As long as the Central World remained, what did it matter where they went?
To clarify:
The shell was just a shell.
Damien had two lifelines: one in the Void World, the other in the Central World.
The Central World could be relocated.
Without the Cardinal World, Damien could transfer it to the Konosubaverse, the Nasuverse.
As long as the core remained, the shell's location didn't matter.
"Even with such a nearly loss-proof fallback..."
"If I still can't take the leap," Damien shook his head, "I'd be unworthy of my position."
Damien lacked the heart of a true warrior.
He was self-aware of this.
He wasn't born a fighter and didn't have the fearless courage to charge forward.
Fortunately, Damien was willing to learn and change.
Caution wasn't wrong.
But excessive worry could make one retreat into a shell.
Through Velzard's opportunity, Damien wanted to see if he could achieve a breakthrough in his mindset.
"You've only just awakened; you've got plenty of time ahead."
Violet reassured him. "And I'll always be by your side."
Even if Damien's combat talent wasn't great, with Violet's assistance, he could still unleash his full strength.
"Well..."
Damien naturally trusted Violet. He said, "Keep searching for new worlds. As for me..."
"To make sure Velzard doesn't get into trouble, I think I'd better keep an eye on things."
***
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