After exiting the passage, dazzling, brilliant light instantly enveloped his entire body.
Rod looked around curiously.
As far as his eyes could see, there was nothing but brown land with no plants, strangely shaped rocks, and... a carpet-like, overwhelming army of magical beasts.
Various magical beasts were densely gathered, all looking up at the sky, as if waiting for something.
Following their gaze, Rod also looked up, raising an eyebrow involuntarily.
It was a gigantic teleportation gate that was immeasurable in size, so much so that one might mistake it for a "black sun"!
The black opening blocked the purple sky of this world.
Whoosh—!
A group of soldiers with wings on their backs and clad in silver armor poured out like a tide.
Just like the boundless magical beasts that covered the ground, the soldiers from the teleportation gate obscured the sky.
"Roar—!!"
The magical beasts roared and jumped excitedly. The silver soldiers in the sky, like beams of light, swooped down to the ground.
"Woo—"
The silver soldiers blew their horns expressionlessly.
Countless small teleportation gates opened again in the sky, and more soldiers flew out one after another from several teleportation exits.
The sound of clashing weapons and rubbing armor violently impacted their eardrums, and even Rod couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
The silver soldiers were clearly stronger; they quickly devoured all the magical beasts on the plain.
Rather than a war, it was more like a one-sided slaughter.
Rod stroked his chin, a hint of contemplation flashing in his eyes.
If I also wanted to create such a group of [Valkyrie Heavenly Soldiers], I wonder how many wish points it would cost... The main point is, where would I get so many soldiers from...
Just then, as the magical beasts were about to be completely annihilated, the silver soldiers, who had been eliminating the magical beasts with overwhelming force, suddenly stopped.
Their hands were actually trembling slightly.
Fear appeared on their faces, and they looked... behind Rod.
"If it were you, what would you do at this moment?"
A knight clad in pitch-black armor and wearing a smoky black long cloak had appeared silently beside Rod at some unknown point.
He had fiery, shining purple hair, brilliant purple eyes, and two curved black horns.
Rod didn't turn his head, merely stating calmly.
"This question is meaningless. This is not my war, Asben."
At the same time, he had already entered the "Kamui" phasing state, and his System panel had opened the "Unlimited Wish Ticket" usage interface, ready to deal with any sudden situation!
Asben watched Rod through the gaps in his helmet, his voice low.
"You are very special; you can come back from the dead, and now you seem to not exist in this plane."
"Moreover, you know many things you shouldn't know, such as... my name."
Rod turned his head and looked directly at the first Shadow Monarch.
"I also know that you, as you are now, actually don't want to descend to Earth."
"You, who belong neither to the Rulers nor the Monarchs, no longer wish to continue fighting. You are currently searching for the meaning of your existence."
Asben fell silent, the atmosphere somewhat congealed.
After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly extended his hand to Rod.
Rod thought he was going to attack, but instead, he offered a mass of energy as black as ink.
"You came for it, didn't you? It belongs to you."
Having said that, Asben turned away, looking dispassionately at the battlefield below, which was already nearing its end.
"Originally, I valued that weakling who had experienced countless near-death situations more. But perhaps... you, who have come back from the dead, are more suitable to wield this power than him."
Rod narrowed his eyes; this scene indeed exceeded his expectations.
What's going on?
My Mangekyo is Kamui, not Kotoamatsukami!
But in the end, he chuckled softly, fearlessly reaching out to touch the pitch-black energy directly with his hand.
Asben was immediately somewhat surprised.
"Since you know so much, aren't you worried that I'll treat you as a new Container?"
In response, Rod merely smiled and retorted.
"Could the greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light be someone like this?"
Asben was startled, and the corner of his mouth beneath the mask seemed to curl slightly.
He had long grown weary of endless, meaningless wars. Entrusting this power to someone else would also bring him much relief. It seemed this mysterious young man would make good use of this power...
However, at the same time, Rod gave an absolute command to the system in his mind.
EX · Perfect Synchronization, activate!
How could I casually trust a stranger? It's fine to fool my buddies, but don't fool yourself.
The effect of eliminating all flaws and negative characteristics means that even if the other party truly has some hidden trump card, it will only turn into nothingness before my absolute authority!
This is my true confidence!
Boom—!
An unimaginably vast power surged within him.
Rod felt as if he was connected to the entire world of the dead, with countless souls whispering to him, submitting to him.
The boundary between life and death became incredibly blurred in his perception, as if with just a thought, he could bring the dead back to life!
Asben pointed to the battlefield below and said, "Now, it is your battle. You know what to do."
Rod looked up, his gaze sharp and cold.
Shadows as dark as ink began to spread from his feet, constantly expanding across the brown earth, like an ever-growing black hole, covering the entire battlefield in the blink of an eye!
The shadows swiftly enveloped the blood and corpses of the magic beasts, and where the shadows passed, screams of agony erupted.
Both the silver soldiers in the sky and the remaining magic beasts held their breath.
All eyes were focused on Rod, no longer on the former Monarch beside him.
Rod raised his right hand slightly towards them and spoke in a voice so majestic it could shake souls:
"Arise."
Instantly, the blood-stained battlefield was mercilessly swallowed by a black tidal wave.
Innumerable "Shadow Soldiers" emerged from the ground, letting out roars that were indistinguishable from cheers or wails.
In their eyes, there was no longer any fear of the silver soldiers, only absolute loyalty to Rod.
They frantically began to fight with all the creatures still standing around them. Whether magic beasts or silver soldiers, all were treated as enemies without distinction!
Asben was somewhat surprised by Rod's decision but said nothing.
After all, this was merely an illusion for the successor to familiarize himself with his abilities...
When the battlefield fell silent once more, Asben seemed to lighten up considerably, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
"The Monarchs are even more powerful than you imagine. Especially the Dragon Emperor; you must be fully prepared before fighting him."
"However, I will not hand over my former legions to you. I think you probably prefer to find your own favored soldiers."
Rod felt the surging power within him, extremely satisfied, and in a very good mood.
"Ah, you are right."
Asben shook his head.
"Let's end the small talk here. It's time for you to go back."
With that, he was about to wave his hand to send Rod back to the real world.
Just then, Rod suddenly spoke.
"I cannot give you an answer to your doubts now. But the next time I see you, I will surely point you to a new path."
In his empire plan, he and his girls naturally occupied the highest level, residing alone in the independent [Perfect Fantasy Paradise].
However, he would also gather talents from other worlds, stationing them in various worlds to continuously harvest Prayer Points for him.
That being said, he also had no intention of letting just anyone join.
Asben was foolishly loyal, but the Absolute Being was dead, and he now felt no sense of belonging to either the Rulers or the Monarchs, making him a good subordinate.
However, with Rod's current strength, saying such words would only invite ridicule.
But he believed it wouldn't be long before he possessed the power to make even this First Monarch submit to him!
Asben looked at Rod's incredibly resolute eyes, and from beneath his mask, a meaningful chuckle escaped.
"Interesting... Well then, I shall look forward to it."
After he finished speaking, Rod was pulled by a force, about to leave this illusion.
Asben, too, turned and walked towards the void, returning to his own kingdom of the dead.
Just as his vision was about to be swallowed by darkness, Rod's eyes instantly became incredibly sharp.
In his mind, he immediately gave an order to the system!
"System! Copy the Fragment of Brilliant Light from Asben!"
[60,000 Prayer Points consumed.]
[Fragment of Brilliant Light copied successfully, current balance 22,700.]
[Detected that you simultaneously possess the Fragment of Primordial Darkness within your body. It has been synthesized into — Fragment of Creation (1/8) for you.]
[Detected a massive energy source within your body. It has been adapted to the maximum limit that your current body and soul strength can accommodate.]
[Congratulations on acquiring Authority · Shadow Monarch!]
[Congratulations on acquiring Authority · Power of Creation (Partial) (1/8)!]
[Congratulations on acquiring Skill · Ruler's Hand!]
When his vision was once again replaced by the dark, damp stone walls of the temple.
Rod felt the new power surging within him like a volcanic eruption, no longer able to suppress the excitement in his heart, and let out a hearty shout towards the sky.
"—Awesome!!"
Boom!!!
A powerful aura, strong enough to distort space itself, erupted from him!
A dazzling gleam flashed in Rod's eyes, and he eagerly questioned the system in his mind.
"System, by the standards of the Danmachi World, what level do my current attributes correspond to?"
[Based on attribute values, your estimated level is: Lv.7.]
[However, due to the presence of extraordinary authorities, your true combat power cannot be effectively measured.]
Lv.7... This truly is a step to the heavens!
In the original work, Cheng Xiaoyu was carefully guided by the "System," slowly transforming his body level by level to adapt to the vast power of the Shadow Monarch.
Rod, on the other hand, with the authority of "EX · Perfect Synchronization," brutally achieved it in one go, directly maximizing the upper limit of power he could withstand to his current limit!
"To continue improving from here, I'll need constitution or soul-type talents to expand my capacity, huh..."
Rod stroked his chin, muttering to himself, beginning to ponder the next suitable target.
[You can also develop your current body and soul to their limits through training, thereby adapting to more power.]
Rod clicked his tongue, somewhat speechless.
"Do I still have to be so competitive in another world... How long would it take to train by exercising..."
His words suddenly stopped, as if he had thought of something, and he immediately opened the system panel to check "Myriad Worlds Prayer."
[Myriad Worlds Prayer]
[World One: To be selected]
[Solo Leveling: To be refreshed]
[One Piece World: Koby: "Waaah, please, some kind person, come rescue me from Alvida's ship!" (B-rank Prayer)]
Looking at Koby's tearful prayer, a slight curve appeared at the corner of Rod's mouth.
Oh? It seems the talent of the Diligent King is fated with me...
However, Rod had no immediate plans to depart.
There were still things he could harvest in this world for now, and he also needed some time to familiarize himself with his newly acquired abilities.
He glanced at the system's Prayer Point balance and immediately felt a pang in his heart.
"This truly is like going back to square one..."
Although the Prayer Points originally designated for copying the Shadow Monarch's power were ultimately saved and used to copy the Fragment of Brilliant Light.
But he hadn't expected this thing's price to be so absurdly expensive...
One must know, there were still eight "Fragments of Primordial Darkness" and seven "Fragments of Brilliant Light" out there.
If he wanted to copy all of them, he would need a staggering 900,000 Prayer Points!
If he relied solely on himself to do missions everywhere, when would he ever finish!
Moreover, the remaining 20,000 Prayer Points probably wouldn't last long.
The Totsuka-no-Tsurugi still sealed a top-tier genjutsu master, and the ability of the "Ant King" on Jeju Island not far away was already part of his plan.
"It seems I must find a way to contract more powerful laborers..."
Rod suddenly thought of something, and with a wave of his hand, a tattered body was thrown out of his Kamui Space.
It was none other than the former Lv.4 adventurer — [Faceless] Witt!
"Theoretically, people who die in the Danmachi World go directly to the Underworld. In another world, there's no possibility of them being summoned at all..."
However, Rod still quietly gave the Monarch's decree to the corpse.
"Arise."
Wisps of black smoke began to emanate from Witt's corpse, but these black smokes were unable to condense into a solid form due to some invisible rule obstruction.
Rod narrowed his eyes slightly, just beginning to feel a bit disappointed.
As a result, the system's notification sound rang again.
[Detected the following flaws in the power of the "Shadow Monarch":]
[1. Unable to extract beings that have been dead for too long.]
[2. Unable to extract creatures without shadows.]
[3. Unable to extract souls of creatures from other worlds.]
[...]
["EX · Perfect Synchronization" has taken effect.]
[All flaws have been automatically eliminated.]
"3.8 Ugh ah ah ah—!!"
A heavy and mournful roar brought a chilling, bone-piercing wind.
From Witt's shadow, a pitch-black arm extended, and then, a complete black shadow slowly crawled out, kneeling on one knee before Rod.
Rod was surprised for a moment, then his heart grew even more satisfied with this somewhat unreasonable authority.
"Haha, good!"
"System, how strong is this guy?"
[The shadows you extract retain their strength from when they were alive.]
[If a being is far stronger than you, its power will be temporarily suppressed to the highest output tier of your current energy, and will gradually be fully unleashed as you grow.]
"Is that so..."
The advancement of Shadow Soldiers themselves is relatively difficult.
To quickly and directly increase their strength, Rod would need to actively inject more energy into them.
But wouldn't that mean I'd be working for them?
A daring idea suddenly popped into Rhode's mind.
What if… I bestowed Grace upon these Shadow Soldiers?!
An army of shadows that could level up infinitely, revive infinitely, and fear no death—that would be a true… Undead Scourge!
However, he didn't do it immediately.
As he felt the various ways to use the Shadow Monarch's power naturally emerge in his mind, the corner of his mouth curved upwards again.
"I seem… to be able to do something like this…"
He waved his hand casually.
Vitt, in his shadow form, let out a sigh before instantly dissipating, turning into an invisible black mist.
"I can return the power of all the deceased to its origin, extract the essence of their power, and… combine, stack, and delete them at will, thereby creating brand new Shadow Soldiers unique to me!"
This was somewhat similar to the operations he performed using his Prayer Points.
"Could the Shadow Monarch do something like this?"