"If we can't use Ultimate Skills..."
Testarossa, rarely speaking up, said, "We'd have to rely solely on our physical abilities and magicules."
"Right."
Damien nodded. "The restrictions are significant, but with the quality of our magicules, you can still injure or even kill a Heretic God."
There were drawbacks, but also benefits.
Like usurping a Heretic God's divine status.
By forgoing Ultimate Skills, if they successfully hunted a god, they'd become Campiones.
Moreover, as Campiones, they'd gain an identity in the new world, free from the rules' rejection.
If it were Damien, he'd definitely choose this option.
Compared to being a Heretic God, being a Campione suited him better.
Plus, Damien had another idea.
If that idea proved feasible, his efficiency in collecting Ultimate power would skyrocket.
"The final option is to descend in your true form."
This meant declaring war on both the Heretic God and the Campiones simultaneously.
The advantage was obvious.
Using their own power, it was all about overwhelming force.
The downside was that the stronger the being, the greater the suppression they'd face.
And they couldn't acquire Authorities through the godslaying ritual.
"Without Authorities, we can't gain new Ultimate power."
"So the third option offers no help in acquiring power."
But!
That didn't mean descending in true form was useless.
In critical moments, if someone interfered with Damien's plans and they couldn't win with rule-bound power...
A world-destroying nuke was the perfect solution.
Can't beat you? I'll just blow you up!
In a pinch, Damien could toss Veldora into the Campioneverse... who could withstand the Storm Dragon's world-ending power?
"Three options..."
Hearing Damien's three choices, the group fell into thought.
After becoming Awakened Demon Lords, further breakthroughs required enhancing soul strength.
But soul strength, tied to potential, wasn't easy to improve.
Thus, they had to first acquire Ultimate Skills, then use their power to expand soul strength.
With Damien around, he could make that happen.
"You can think of them as three factions."
"Heretic God, Campiones, or enemies of the entire world!"
The Great Sage, analyzed the essence of Damien's three options for Rimuru.
'What should I choose?'
[Report: Please first consider your purpose, Host.]
'Purpose, huh?'
Rimuru thought for a moment and soon had her answer.
"Heretic God and descending in true form don't seem right for me."
Rimuru raised her hand. "As expected, I want to return to Earth as a normal person and take a look."
No question... Rimuru chose the Campione faction!
"Of course you can."
Damien smiled. "But if we find a Heretic God, you'll have to help out."
"No problem!"
Fun was fun, but Rimuru knew how to keep things in check.
"Lord Damien, does that world have myths about daemons?"
Diablo's eyes lit up, as if a new path had opened before him!
They weren't good at playing nice.
If there were ready-made daemon roles, the four Primordial Daemons were pros at causing chaos!
"There are."
Damien spoke, and Violet immediately shared a dossier with the four Primordial Daemons.
This gave them the perfect path forward.
No doubt, the four Primordial Daemons could occupy myths like the Seven Sins or Solomon's Seventy-Two Demon Pillars, descending as Heretic God.
To add a note...
The Authorities they gained could be freely used in the Campione world.
For each Authority acquired, Violet would harvest a portion of its power, extracting Ultimate power from it.
When enough Ultimate power was gathered, Violet could synthesize new Ultimate Skills.
As for the rank of those Ultimate Skills...
It depended on the amount of Ultimate power used.
With enough, Violet could even help Damien synthesize a new Divine Ultimate!
Some might ask...
If Damien granted Ultimate Skills to his subordinates, what about himself?
In fact, when Damien bestowed an Ultimate Skill, his own Ultimate power didn't diminish.
Yes, it didn't diminish!
Though this granting was one-time only, unable to be duplicated a third time.
As a reward for his subordinates, it was more than enough.
As for Damien...
He didn't need flashy Ultimate Skills.
The Ultimate power he gained was fused into the God of the Void, raising its power ceiling.
Take now, for example.
Though his subordinates had over a dozen Ultimate Skills while he had only a few...
In reality, the God of the Void had already integrated all his subordinates' Ultimate Skills.
Its contained Ultimate power was equivalent to the combined strength of Damien and his followers.
"We'll go with the third option."
Velzard had no interest in role-playing games or hiding her true self.
As for abandoning Ultimate Skills to slay gods, that was too much hassle.
Compared to those...
Velzard felt she and Veldora were better suited as Damien's off-field support.
Ready to answer his call at any moment!
Exactly!
With one command from Damien, the Dragon Gods would descend!
Netherworld, time-space journeys, parallel worlds... they'd blow them all up!
Of course, this was a last resort.
If they destroyed the Campioneverse, Damien would be the one heartbroken.
Such a perfect breeding ground for Ultimate power.
If it was gone, he'd have nowhere to cry.
"The specific time will be set for a week from now."
Damien wasn't rushing to take everyone to the Campione world. There were still matters in the Monster Kingdom.
The Eastern Empire and Velgrynd likely wouldn't act so soon, so there was no hurry.
His goal was to crush the Kingdom of Falmuth and Puppet Nation of Jistav... those annoying shadows... once and for all!
After that, Damien could focus on godslaying and acquiring Authorities.
He wasn't short on magicules or souls.
As long as he amassed enough Ultimate Skills, Damien would proclaim to the Central World...
This land could have only one master... him, Damien!
***
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