In the eyes of Ariel and Gulie, Dustin was someone who could be called a monster, and a person they acknowledged.
However, in Ash's view, the only thing worthy of recognition was his persistence.
The gap between Dustin's dream and the abilities he actually possessed was so large that it felt somewhat absurd.
This wasn't from some lofty perspective. Just by sorting through Dustin's memories, it was easy to see that what Dustin had accomplished was far too insignificant.
Take unifying humanity as an example. He had only done some surface-level integration work. After all these years, he still hadn't completely united humanity.
Even now, forces like the Goddess Religion remained outside his control, and the Goddess Religion wasn't even a church or nation protected by Ariel.
Most of the time, the only country he could directly command was the Holy Kingdom. The other nations were moved through various complicated methods.
Even for something like eliminating the Goddess Religion, he had to go to great lengths to trick the young Hero into coming over, using him to gain a righteous cause and then inciting other nations to join the attack.
So he couldn't be considered someone who had truly unified humanity. At most, he had some skill in schemes and could manipulate events to a certain degree.
Because what he had accomplished fell far short of what should have been possible with his position and abilities, Ash naturally didn't think Dustin was qualified to talk about deals with him.
Even taking a step back, even if all of humanity were handed over to him, humanity as a whole in this world was simply too weak.
Take Ariel, for example. By herself, she could easily toy with humanity. She wouldn't even need to act personally. The spiders under her command could wipe humanity out several times over.
Humanity had survived until now entirely because of Ariel and the true dragon called Gulie. One restricted the spiders' range of activity, while the other restricted the dragons. Otherwise, humanity and demonkind would probably have vanished from this world long ago.
It was true that Dustin had a ruthless side that would kill even gods if necessary, but his own abilities and strength couldn't accomplish that at all. He could only rely on righteousness to scheme against the Goddess and the true dragon... In other words, his ruthlessness and calculations could only affect beings beyond humanity if those beings already held goodwill toward him.
Not killing him now was also because Ash wanted to see if he might be useful in the future. After all, Dustin was quite skilled when it came to being shameless.
However, before Ash could return to the Keren Territory, he was stopped in midair.
Appearing before him was an enormous black dragon.
The black dragon radiated a terrifying pressure that made people shudder. That pressure was far stronger than any lifeform Ash had seen before.
The dragon simply floated there without speaking. It stared directly at Ash with its massive eyes, as though trying to see through him.
That instead made Ash speak first.
"You're Guliedistodiez... Forget it, I'll just call you Gulie. What does the administrator want with me?"
"You are an outsider."
Gulie slowly spoke. His voice rolled across the sky like thunder. Every syllable carried an indescribable pressure, even killing intent.
"Isn't that obvious?"
Ash had expected him to appear long ago, which was why he had traveled by flight instead of teleporting.
His tone was relaxed, as though he wasn't affected by the dragon's presence at all.
"Aren't you afraid? As an outsider, you've interfered with this world and carried out slaughter on such a scale. You're disrupting the balance of the system."
A fierce light appeared in the dragon's eyes.
He stared at Ash as though examining a criminal guilty of unforgivable sins.
The appearance of the black dragon made the atmosphere tense.
It felt as if the air itself smelled of gunpowder. The two sides seemed on the verge of a violent clash.
Yet... even though his opponent was a god, and one appearing in his true body, Ash was calmer than he had been the last time.
He looked back steadily, without any fear in his eyes, "Afraid of what? Most of your power is devoted to the system, and your authority as an administrator is very limited. In the end, D is the one who actually controls this place. Even if you want to protect humanity out of personal feelings, you don't have the authority to interfere with me. Especially since you're a god. Have you thought about the consequences of attacking me casually? You should have. That's why you never showed up before. You were worried about offending D. It wasn't until I slaughtered the allied army that you finally couldn't hold back anymore... Am I right?"
"..."
Gulie wanted to refute him, but for a moment he had no response.
Schemes and plots had never been his strong point.
He also had shortcomings when it came to communication.
People often described him as slow or foolish. Ariel had said the same thing before.
And Ash was right. D had once told him, ("An administrator's job is only to observe and make adjustments. That is what a god should do. Therefore, you can't kill a specific person, and Sariel certainly wouldn't want that either.")
Although D had spoken gently, D probably just didn't want him breaking the rules of the game. Or perhaps D wanted to see what interesting things Potimas could create instead of killing him.
That's right. He had truly wanted to kill Potimas.
The one who had once kidnapped young dragons and continued committing evil acts even now.
In the end, he had even proposed the insane plan of turning the Goddess into a living sacrifice, and had successfully carried it out.
If all humans were guilty, then Potimas was absolutely the one carrying the greatest sin. He had taken the lead in humanity's crimes and continued his wrongdoing to this day.
But after D told him that, he naturally couldn't kill Potimas.
He could only let him continue living.
Therefore, no matter how much he hated Potimas, he couldn't act.
Otherwise, what would happen to Sariel, himself, the world, and the system?
Gulie had no way of knowing.
Fortunately, he had only warned Potimas.
If he did something unforgivable, he would kill him.
If he tried to escape this planet, he would kill him.
Warnings like that had unexpectedly worked very well.
Potimas's real body had basically never left the barrier surrounding the Elf Village.
Although Gulie couldn't take any real action against Potimas because of D's warning, Potimas knew nothing about the details of that warning, so he had always behaved very obediently.
But...
Even though Ash had never received similar information, he had still seen through the fact that Gulie couldn't act freely and exposed it without mercy.
'So even with power, I still can't do anything?'
The enormous black dragon floated in the sky and slowly lowered his gaze, filled with frustration.
Ash looked at the dragon, who had lost all desire to fight after being exposed and whose killing intent had vanished instantly. He shook his head helplessly.
"What's wrong? Do you still have something to say?"
"I..."
Gulie hesitated, unsure how to answer.
A sharp glint flashed through Ash's eyes, "Actually, I have a proposal."
"A proposal?"
"Dustin doesn't have any valuable bargaining chips, so I won't negotiate with him. But you're different."
A confident smile appeared on Ash's face.
"You're a true dragon. A born god. So there's room for cooperation between us."
"What are you saying..."
"You're someone restricted in many ways outside the system. I'm inside the system. I can help you save the world and do the things you can't."
Ash's persuasive words were like a devil's whisper.
They carried a strong appeal that even Gulie found hard to ignore.
But he shook his head firmly, "It's useless. This world is already finished. It can't be saved."
"I know that too. But I believe Goddess Sariel still wants to preserve some native species, right? And what plans do you have for the future after destruction comes? Tell me. I might be able to help improve them."
Ash didn't give up because of Gulie's refusal and continued explaining his thoughts.
"The future?"
"Looks like you've never thought about it. Then we can think together about the future after destruction."
Gulie seemed confused by the question.
Considering how he had remained stagnant for three thousand years, Ash more or less understood that this dragon truly hadn't thought about anything.
He had only continued giving.
But it was merely mechanical giving.
There had been no further preparation, no consideration of what would happen after the world's destruction.
"Rather than remaining stuck where you are, maybe sweeping reform... change... can bring new hope. Of course, before that, we can calculate the payment for hiring me."
"Wait a moment..."
Gulie finally interrupted him.
His huge dragon body began to change, gradually becoming a handsome young man in black armor.
With a tense expression, he looked at Ash and slowly said, "Before we discuss cooperation, tell me your purpose."
"My purpose? I just want to become stronger. Then seek immortality."
"Your body and soul should already possess an extremely long lifespan before reaching their end. You're still young. For your race, you should still be in childhood, right?"
Gulie looked at Ash with confusion.
He didn't understand why someone so young was already thinking about immortality.
"Just preparing for the future."
"That's preparing a little too early."
"Believe me. I bear no ill will toward this world. Everything I do is simply part of becoming stronger. The reason I came here is only to fulfill a promise to an old friend, save my homeland, and let the person I like live for a long time too instead of growing old and dying. Besides that, I also hope to help those who should be helped along the way," Ash answered honestly.
His eyes were clear and firm.
His words sounded somewhat strange, but there was no sign of concealment.
At least, Gulie couldn't detect any lies.
Even so, he still shook his head, "No. I don't trust you."
"Why?"
"You look like the type who's good at manipulating people. Before making an important decision, I need time to think carefully."
"That's slander!"
Ash replied with a dark expression.
"I obviously look like a cheerful, open, harmless person! Besides, isn't this a win-win situation?"
"You give me the feeling of someone who talks about a win-win situation while secretly planning to take everything for yourself."
"That's not true. If your eyes aren't working, go find an eye doctor instead of throwing accusations around, okay?"
"No matter what you say, I need to think it over first. And I have to tell you this. Although D really doesn't allow me to act freely, so I won't move against you for now, you'd better remember this as well. If you act recklessly before I've made up my mind, I will stand in your way."
Understanding that he wasn't good at strategy, Gulie followed a principle.
After making a rough judgment of someone through a dragon's intuition, or before making any major decision, he would always think carefully instead of being tempted by immediate benefits.
Even though Ash hadn't proposed any concrete conditions yet, he had a feeling, they would definitely be very difficult conditions.
So after saying that, he silently stepped backward and disappeared into the void.
"Do old people these days have such strong anti-scam awareness? It's one thing to guard against bad guys and swindlers, but why are they even wary of good people?"
Ash looked at the calm night sky and let out a helpless sigh.
Then he slapped his forehead in annoyance.
"Ah! I forgot! I should've told him to make up his mind sooner."
'Still, why is a god who had lived for thousands upon thousands of years so inexperienced and innocent?'
'It doesn't seem like an act either...'
'Maybe life never challenged him. Maybe things has been too comfortable, and he has been protected too well since childhood.'
———
Within the Keren Territory, where preparations for war were underway, three meteors streaked across the sky like brilliant shooting stars carrying death itself.
No one could ignore such a magnificent and terrifying sight.
The roars from afar, sounding like the end of the world, mixed together and filled everyone with fear.
The entire territory was shrouded in tension and dread because of this disaster.
People looked up at the sky and continuously prayed for the Goddess's mercy.
However, when scouts on the front line reported the astonishing news that the allied army had been almost completely wiped out by the meteor strike and could practically be considered annihilated, the entire territory erupted.
Cheers and shouts rose one after another.
People spread the news everywhere.
They firmly believed this was divine punishment sent by the Goddess, a punishment for the invaders and a blessing from heaven upon them.
Only the lord and a few others knew that this was not the Goddess's punishment at all.
It should have been Ash's doing.
The Lord of Keren stood by the window, staring toward the distant horizon.
His fingertips trembled constantly because of the terrifying power Ash had displayed.
Yet while everyone was celebrating, an unexpected crisis quietly arrived.
Because the town had focused most of its efforts on dealing with the main force of the allied army, no one had expected the allied special operations unit to attack while defenses were weakened.
Fortunately, the main army had just suffered a devastating meteor strike.
As a result, the special unit ordered to slaughter everyone in the town had low morale and no desire to fight.
Still, orders were orders.
They intended to breach the city and kill some people before retreating so they could at least claim some results.
But with morale in chaos, even their siege felt weak.
Even so, news of the attack caused the atmosphere inside the lord's mansion to become tense again.
Outside the study, two guards stood watch with serious expressions, carefully observing their surroundings.
Inside, the butler frowned deeply as he reported the current situation to the lord.
The three members of the Keren family were also in the second-floor study.
"The enemy special unit is larger than expected. If their morale hadn't collapsed, they probably would have already broken into the city. But we have too few people. We definitely can't hold out for long."
The butler's voice was low and hoarse.
His brow was tightly furrowed, and his eyes were full of concern.
The lord was equally tense.
Staring toward the city walls in the distance, he asked without turning around, "How is the evacuation of the residents going?"
"It happened too suddenly. There's simply not enough time."
The butler shook his head helplessly.
"Please, sir, take madam and young miss and leave immediately. Once the city falls, this place will become the enemy's primary target. Those heretics will surely slaughter everyone in the territory."
"No. I am the lord of this territory. I cannot abandon my people and flee alone."
"Then I also..."
The butler started to speak but could not continue.
Because he wasn't surprised by the lord's decision.
In this cruel age, the lord possessed such noble character.
That was the reason he had always followed him.
It was also the greatest reason he had hidden his love for madam and silently protected this family.
"Merazophis... Sophia is in your hands."
The lord finally turned around.
With a solemn expression, he placed a hand on the butler's shoulder, his eyes full of trust.
Before the butler could answer, madam also stood up.
With a smile on her face, she gently said, "Merazophis, I'm entrusting her to you as well."
"I..."
The requests from both the lord and madam made the butler's shoulders shake.
Tears of reluctance even appeared in his eyes.
'Hurry up, Ash. If you don't come back soon... my family...'
'No, what right do I have to ask him?'
'But... please. I'll do anything!'
'Sophia is still just a baby.'
'At most, a baby who can walk.'
Held tightly in her mother's arms, she felt an indescribable sense of helplessness.
She nearly wanted to burst into tears, but all she could do was pray that the only person capable of creating a miracle would return quickly.
In the room, where the tension had become almost solid, they didn't even get a chance to say proper goodbyes before fierce sounds of fighting erupted outside.
The guards' shouts and the clash of weapons mixed together, breaking the brief calm.
Everyone's heart jumped into their throat.
They didn't know whether the enemy had broken through the defenses or whether a new opportunity had appeared.
The lord gripped his sword tightly, preparing for any enemy that might arrive.
The butler stood in front of madam and Sophia, protecting them, a trace of determination in his eyes.
Not long afterward, the study door burst open with a loud bang.
The one who crashed in was a guard stationed outside.
His body swayed unsteadily.
Arrows covered him from head to toe, making him look like a human pincushion.
Blood poured from his wounds, dyeing his armor a shocking red.
"M-My lord! It's... it's... el..."
He gasped for air.
Every word seemed forced out of his throat with difficulty.
His voice was hoarse and broken.
Before he could finish speaking, he collapsed heavily onto the floor.
His body twitched slightly, whether in a final struggle against death or merely from instinct.
A feeling of despair spread through the room.
'Are we really going to die here?'
Everyone couldn't help thinking it.
The lord's face turned pale.
Madam tightly hugged Sophia, burying the little girl's face against her chest as her body trembled nonstop.
But at the moment when despair covered everything, space suddenly seemed to tear open under an invisible force.
A familiar figure emerged from the opening and appeared before everyone.