"That was one hell of a long nap!"
Momonga's slightly drowsy, languid mutter slowly faded.
Then, subtle changes began to appear across his grim, lifeless skeletal body.
A layer of flesh as thin as a cicada's wing gradually formed over the surface of his bones.
Immediately afterward, that thin layer seemed to come alive, rapidly multiplying and spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In moments, it completely enveloped his entire skeletal frame.
Once the transformation stabilized, the figure standing before them was unmistakably a pale-skinned Dragonoid.
"You finally woke up."
"I was starting to think that if you didn't wake up soon, I'd just rip the lid off your coffin and drag you out myself!"
Standing nearby, Naohara looked his friend up and down, a teasing smile tugging at his lips.
A year ago, Naohara had embarked on his journey to explore the Great River of Souls.
Momonga, meanwhile, had spent an enormous amount of materials constructing this extraordinarily sturdy coffin before resolutely climbing inside.
"My Undead instincts sensed you and Herohero approaching, along with the unique fluctuations given off by the Guild Weapon."
Momonga slowly explained as he stretched his limbs, which had become somewhat stiff after remaining motionless for so long.
As the Guildmaster, he possessed a special connection to the Guild Weapon.
"So? Did you gain anything special from spending half a year lying there like a corpse?"
Herohero leaned closer. Several eyes appeared across his slime-like body, blinking curiously as he asked.
"Hmm... how should I put it? During this time, I gained some new understanding and insight into the concept of death."
"I might be able to incorporate those ideas into the development of new Wild Magic."
As he spoke, Momonga gently raised one arm.
Naohara and Herohero's attention immediately shifted toward it.
The skin that had once been as pale as paper, characteristic of an Undead, was gradually taking on a faint trace of color.
At the same time, an extremely weak yet undeniably real aura of life began emanating from his body.
"Is this... a transformation between life and death?"
Ordinarily, Undead were beings born from Negative Energy and should have possessed no vitality whatsoever.
Yet what they were seeing completely overturned that established understanding.
"Exactly. And I owe it to the ideas you and Herohero gave me, Naohara."
Momonga nodded slightly.
Over the past three years, he had frequently engaged in lengthy discussions with Naohara and Herohero, sharing their thoughts and understanding of various subjects.
They had jokingly dubbed these exchanges "discussions of the Dao."
The three of them were like three separate points. Whenever a particular topic came up, each of them would openly share everything they understood and had realized about it.
Through this process, countless interconnected threads of thought gradually formed between them.
The three had thoroughly analyzed and researched their respective magical attributes, including Catastrophe, Death, Corruption, and more, along with all sorts of information concerning the New World.
Among those topics had also been their experimental theories concerning classes with the Genius suffix.
And during one particularly intense discussion concerning the profound concept of death, the three had each proposed entirely different viewpoints.
Momonga's original understanding of death had been rather straightforward.
He believed death was the opposite of life, the unavoidable final destination awaiting every living being.
However, his two friends rejected that interpretation.
They considered it far too narrow and superficial.
The two then offered several completely different perspectives.
For example, life and death were not necessarily opposed or mutually exclusive. Rather, death itself was simply one indispensable part of life as a whole.
"Just as we said back then, the very existence of the Undead is probably the strongest proof."
The Undead...
How had he never considered that before?
Wasn't the existence of the Undead itself the clearest evidence?
They had already lost all the characteristics of the living, yet continued to exist in another form of life.
"Death is not the end of life. On the contrary, death returns life to where it began."
Looking across the vast universe, had all life not originally emerged from a lifeless world?
Space contained all things and gave rise to time.
Only through the convergence of space, matter, and time was life finally born.
From then on, the existence of space, matter, and time gained meaning because of life.
And death was the child of life.
Only because death existed did life possess meaning.
A lifeless world gave birth to life. Life proceeded toward death, and death acted like a waystation, returning life once more to a lifeless state.
Life, death, and lifelessness.
The three formed an endless cycle.
Momonga's understanding of death had deepened considerably.
Death and life were, at their core, two parts of the same whole.
Like the Yin-Yang symbol, black existed within white, and white within black, endlessly cycling between one another.
"So you're trying to use Wild Magic to reverse life and death, converting your Negative Energy into Positive Energy so you can step into the domain of the living."
Naohara narrowed his eyes as he studied his friend.
Was this what people meant when they said someone only needed a single hint?
No.
More accurately, Momonga had already possessed an exceptionally deep understanding of death.
Naohara and Herohero had merely pointed him in the right direction.
After arriving in the New World, the changes to their brains meant the three were no longer constrained by the limitations of their former human minds.
Their minds and consciousness had completely merged with their new races as well.
Momonga's Undead-specialized build, which had originally been created mostly for fun in the game, had instead become a unique advantage.
"Impressive."
Herohero clapped in admiration.
Momonga specialized in Undead, while Herohero specialized in Corruption.
If Momonga could achieve something like this, then Herohero should theoretically be capable of something similar.
Momonga could reach life through death.
Herohero could reach intangible corruption through tangible corruption.
Their respective paths were different, but the underlying principles were quite similar.
"Even so, this is only the beginning. I still need to expand my understanding of death."
Sometimes, being too powerful could itself become a limitation.
When it came to reversing life and death, the stronger the being, the harder it became to complete the transformation.
"You don't need to worry about that. My thought form can handle that part."
Hearing this, Naohara patted Momonga on the shoulder before explaining the results of the Genius experiment.
If a mediocre person could not accomplish it, then they simply needed to become a Genius.
For someone like Momonga, whose race and classes were almost entirely centered around the Undead, the enhancement from the Genius suffix would undoubtedly produce tremendous benefits.
"The experiment succeeded? Then that certainly gives us a lot more room to work with. My knowledge and strength should finally start growing again after such a long stagnation."
A gleam flashed through Momonga's eyes.
Ever since the three of them had obtained the [Original Sin Devourer] title two years ago, the curse of the Seven Deadly Sins Demons had ceased to affect them.
Their strength, which had previously been rising continuously, had consequently reached a plateau.
Using the World Boss scale of 100 to 200 as a reference, Momonga estimated himself to be around 120.
Herohero was around 150.
As for Naohara...
Probably 200+.
Whatever the actual number was, it certainly would not be lower.
"As expected, giving up being human really was the right choice. The three of us are ridiculously strong~"
Herohero sighed with feeling, then abruptly changed the subject.
"By the way, what did you mean earlier when you said we could solve the Demon production problem and the Guild Weapon issue at the same time?"
They had chatted long enough.
It was time to return to business.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot while we were talking."
Momonga immediately slapped his forehead.
Chatting with his friends had nearly made him forget what they were supposed to be discussing.
"Momonga, I think I know what you're planning."
"You want to launch a Planar War, conquer the Demon Plane, and then activate the [Ring of Ouroboros] there to transform the Guild Weapon, right?"
Naohara's meaningful words reached both of them.
A Planar War.
This was a project Nazarick had been preparing for quite some time, and they had already made extensive preparations for it.
The Judgment God Project currently being carried out by Demiurge was one part of those preparations.
"Exactly. We both know how The Twenty work. Rather than activating one in this world, it would be better to use it in the Demon Plane."
"Besides, that World-Class Item we obtained during our expedition in the New World a year ago can eliminate the final risk involved in attacking the Demon Plane."
Demon production had fallen far behind consumption.
Although all of the Guardians' equipment had now been enchanted with Wild Magic Rune Characters, Demons were required to activate them.
Mass-producing Caloric Stones required Demons.
Using the Super-Tier Magic [Wish Upon a Star] to transform Prismatic Ore also required Demons.
The Judgment God Project required Demons.
Even the World-Class Item [Erosion] still required Demons.
Harvesting from the Demon Gate could no longer come close to satisfying their needs.
They had to find a way to increase production.
And that solution was...
To wage war on the Demon Plane!
"You also want to activate the [Ring of Ouroboros] in the Demon Plane to test whether the effects of The Twenty have changed, right?"
Herohero understood Momonga's plan as well.
Among World-Class Items, every item belonging to The Twenty shared one particular characteristic.
Once activated, it would disappear, return to one of the Nine Worlds of YGGDRASIL, and then reappear somewhere within them.
But after transmigration to the New World, the effects of game items might have changed.
No one knew whether the [Ring of Ouroboros] would return to one of YGGDRASIL's Nine Worlds after activation or simply respawn somewhere within the world in which it had been used.
What had happened with the Eight Greed Kings could not serve as a reliable precedent.
Not finding something proved nothing either way.
If the [Ring of Ouroboros] returned to the Nine Worlds, they might be able to use Wild Magic to locate it and establish a connection to YGGDRASIL's coordinates.
If it did not return, then there would be nothing to worry about in the Demon Plane.
They could turn the entire place upside down searching for it without caring how much damage they caused to the world itself.
Either outcome would benefit them.
"Mm. Exactly."
Momonga nodded.
Herohero had perfectly understood what he was thinking.
"Considering the possibility of World Rejection, we'll need to catch them completely off guard and launch a blitzkrieg. With the power of that World-Class Item, we can at least guarantee we won't come away empty-handed."
To enter another world, one first needed permission.
Otherwise, the world itself would reject the intruder.
For example, the three of them had arrived in the New World because they had been summoned by the Dragon Emperor.
Similarly, the arrival of Demons was made possible through summoning.
A passage had to be opened from within a world before an outside existence could properly enter it.
Of course, it was also possible to force one's way inside.
But doing so meant bearing the consequences.
"You've thought this through pretty thoroughly."
"So, what do the two of you think?"
Momonga looked toward his two friends.
The three exchanged smiles, then extended their fists and bumped them together.
"We were going to solve these problems anyway. Might as well handle them all at once."
"Looks like we'll just have to risk our lives alongside you~"
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