The light novel version of Sakurajima had both tankōbon and web novel editions.
The web version could be thought of as the author's rough draft posted online—crude and incomplete.
The tankōbon version was usually edited, with plot adjustments, logic fixes, or new chapters added, while the web version preserved the author's original creation.
The published light novel books were based on the tankōbon version.
In the web version,
Yuuki Sakaguchi had obtained the Lord of Greed.
The holder of this Unique Skill could become infinitely stronger as long as their ambition and desires were great enough.
In the end, Yuuki Sakaguchi had even surpassed the Slime Lord and become the final boss of the entire story, possessing world-destroying power.
If the Slime Lord hadn't been thrown into the Void, absorbed enough energy from it, and evolved into a god surpassing even the Star Dragon King, Yuuki would have been the ultimate victor.
"But those were only the initial settings from the web version."
"Even if Yuuki Sakaguchi really had that potential," Damien said, "the Lord of Greed that would have allowed him to ascend to the divine throne has already fallen into Hustissa's hands."
And according to Damien's analysis of Hustissa's Lord of Greed, he had discovered that this Ultimate Skill wasn't truly unlimited.
This showed that the real-world Yuuki Sakaguchi didn't have the potential to reach the heights of the web version.
"Let's apply a little more pressure."
"Find a way to leak the news that Hinata's forces were completely annihilated in the Jura Forest to him."
"That won't be difficult."
With Velzard's computational power, manipulating fate silently was effortless.
As for Damien's true purpose…
"As long as that guy reaches the Eastern Empire, he can die."
Yes—the reason Damien was scheming against Yuuki Sakaguchi wasn't because of the man himself, but because of the Scorching Dragon Velgrynd, who was still in the Eastern Empire.
To ensure Velgrynd would come in person, Damien had gone to great lengths.
He wanted his second sister to learn some information about the Monster Kingdom from Yuuki's mouth.
According to Velzard's calculations,
If Velgrynd learned about the White Ice Dragon and Storm Dragon, there was a high probability she would rush from the Eastern Empire to the Jura Forest.
In that case, Damien wouldn't need to wait for later events—he could capture her right away.
Of course, the way his second sister received the information had to be carefully planned.
Simply leaking it would only deepen her suspicion and make her more cautious.
That was Yuuki Sakaguchi's value in Damien's eyes.
As long as the guy fled to the Empire, he would definitely be controlled by Emperor Rudra, and his second sister would learn about the situation on Damien's side.
Given his second sister's personality, there was an eighty percent chance she would be drawn over.
"I hope that guy can at least be useful."
Damien really disliked schemers like Yuuki Sakaguchi. "It's a shame about the clowns around him—Tia, Laplace, and the Curse King. They'd all make decent employees."
But there was nothing to be done. They had chosen to follow Yuuki.
Whether in the original story or now, Yuuki Sakaguchi was never a good boss.
Following him meant they had no future.
"The gate to the Godslayer world can be opened now?"
"Almost."
Velzard said, "According to our plan, you'll soon be able to descend into that world in projected form."
This time Damien chose to cross over the same way he had with the Type-Moon world—using a projection descent.
However, compared to the Heroic Spirit projection in the Type-Moon world,
The projection in the Godslayer world was much weaker. It could only maintain the level of an ordinary human.
Yes—an ordinary human.
The reason for this wasn't that Velzard couldn't open a larger gate or usurp more authority.
It was because Damien needed to slay gods as a mortal and fully integrate into the Godslayer world that way.
Only then could he carry out his subsequent plans and maximize his gains.
Of course, the projection wasn't a clone.
Essentially, it was like Damien multitasking or playing a VR game—the safest descent method.
"Perfect timing."
Damien looked at the accumulated soul energy he had on hand and, through the Soul Corridor, notified Shuna, Shion, Benimaru, Souei, Souka, the new orc king Geld, and Star Fang to gather in the grand hall.
All seven of them, no matter where they were, arrived at the Demon King Castle's grand hall in the shortest time possible and waited for Damien's instructions.
"Master, what orders do you have for us?"
Benimaru spoke for everyone as he asked Damien.
"No need to be nervous. It's good news."
Damien smiled. "In the previous war with Falmuth, Souka, Geld, and Star Fang—you all performed excellently."
"After purification by Hustissa, I've obtained enough soul energy for all of you to awaken."
"All of us?!"
The group exchanged glances, all of them shocked.
There were seven people here.
Performing a True Demon Lord awakening ceremony for seven people at once was simply too astounding.
The last time something like this had happened was when Damien himself had awakened, and the four Primordials along with Artoria and the others had received similar treatment.
"Thank you, Lord Damien!"
Among them, Souka and Geld were the most emotional.
They were the newest additions.
Logically, such benefits shouldn't have reached them.
Yet they had never expected Damien to remember them and even place them alongside the ogres and wolves for simultaneous awakening.
"Are you ready?"
Damien waited a moment, then said, "Then let's begin."
"Don't resist. Sink your minds as deeply as possible and feel the transformation and sublimation of your souls!"
Under Damien's guidance, the seven closed their eyes and began to experience the soul energy from Damien liberating and remolding their limits.
The awakening ceremony for the seven went extremely smoothly.
The first to finish was Benimaru, the strongest among them.
[Benimaru]
Race: Ogre Ogre God
Magicules: 5 million EP
Ultimate Skill: Lord of Blazing Sun Amaterasu (mid-tier Ultimate)
Benimaru's awakened Ultimate, named Amaterasu, was a mid-tier skill. Its ability and potential were just below the Seven Virtues and Seven Deadly Sins.
Of course, while there were differences between Ultimates, the final result still depended on the user's skill.
Just like Hakurou.
He had nothing, yet he could still fight A-rank opponents as an A-rank being.
That was the qualitative change skill could bring.
The remaining five—Shuna, Shion, Souei, Souka, Geld, and Star Fang—also completed their awakenings one after another, each gaining powerful new abilities and becoming True Demon Lords.
With seven new True Demon Lords, the Monster Kingdom's strength had taken another massive leap.