Next World

'I wonder, after Kama's demise, would there be any changes on Sesshouin Kiara's end?'

After thinking like that, Arkhan sighed slightly with regret.

Originally, he had intended to mark Kiara's location with Cosmic Juggernaut, making it easier to track her position in the future. However, the moment she disappeared amidst that black hole, his marker was erased.

He wasn't sure if it was an inherent ability of her or if she had caught onto his little scheme.

"But it doesn't matter anyway... Even if she really absorbs Kama's authority and wants to become a complete Beast III, the whole process isn't something that can be done in a day or two. In the short term, she wouldn't pose any threat to me..." Arkhan muttered.

He slowly exhaled a breath, shaking his head.

Kiara was indeed a Demonic Bodhisattva.

Just a brief encounter, barely exchanging a few words, yet she left such a deep impression in his mind.

Some of it was undoubtedly due to the psychological shadows from his past life, but there was also a part that stemmed from her irresistible allure.

Using the power of Fenghuang Down, Arkhan tucked away all memories related to Kiara in the corner of his mind, avoiding any interference with his usual thought process.

Better focus on more pressing matters.

Glancing at his own status panel, Arkhan saw that after this incident, his 'Savior' rank had directly jumped from its original 'D' to 'B', crossing two ranks in one go.

After saving the first world, Arkhan realized that the improvement of 'Savior' was essentially a form of feedback from the world.

The heavier the crisis the world faced, the more abundant the feedback he received when successfully saving it.

In a way, this was the world's gratitude and recognition toward him.

Moreover, his act of exterminating a Beast undoubtedly pulled that world back from the brink of destruction.

Needless to say, it wasn't unexpected to receive this amount of progress.

After all, the world had its own will.

It knew who was endangering it and who was saving it.

In other words, Arkhan's original idea of intentionally destroying a world and then saving it was simply absurd and impossible to implement. Such actions would only incur the world's disgust and wouldn't contribute to the growth of the 'Savior'.

"Guess I'll just have to keep working diligently, huh..."

Arkhan stretched lazily, accidentally catching sight of small text appearing near the 'Savior'.

...

[Glory of Salvation]

Those who save the world shall receive the world's grace.

...

'What in the world is this?'

Arkhan first skimmed through his memories, confirming that this 'Glory of Salvation' only appeared after his 'Savior' reached B-rank; there was no such thing before.

He stared at the text for a moment, realizing there was no explanation or elaboration about this brief line of text.

Arkhan carefully examined his other skills but found no noticeable changes.

'Those who save the world shall receive the world's grace...' Arkhan pondered for a moment.

Judging from the description, this seemed like a positive buff, but he was just not sure what it buffed.

Unable to find an answer no matter how much he thought, Arkhan decided not to dwell on it anymore. Since it originated from the 'Savior', whatever it was wouldn't harm him.

"Migrant workers, the spirit of migrant workers, working is above all else... It's time to go to work again..."

Muttering nonsense to himself, Arkhan closed his eyes and let his thoughts sink into the depths of his consciousness, feeling the call from the depths of the abyss.

In the boundless darkness, countless tiny points of light emitted a candle-like glow, like fireflies drifting over a midnight prairie.

The lights all emanated from the call of several worlds, symbolizing their attraction to him. The stronger the attraction, the brighter the light, and the more powerful form he assumed when he descended.

The influence of Heroic Spirits on the real world was immense, so unless under special circumstances, the Counter Force wouldn't allow them to descend at will.

The Holy Grail War was undoubtedly one of those special circumstances, while holy relics that acted as catalysts, anchor the coordinates of the Heroic Spirits to the real world.

The closer the relationship between the Heroic Spirit and the catalyst, the more power could be accommodated for descent and the more willing the Heroic Spirit to descend, answering their Master's summon.

For Heroic Spirits, catalysts symbolize concepts related to themselves rather than specific items.

For example, Excalibur was undoubtedly closely related to 'King Arthur'. When it became a holy relic, it represented not 'Excalibur' but the concept of 'Excalibur' itself.

Therefore, this also meant that if someone used Excalibur as a catalyst, almost every version of 'King Arthur' could choose to descend, including Arkhan. Even though he had never used Excalibur, because his concept included 'King Arthur', he could also answer the call.

For that reason, sometimes, summoning a Heroic Spirit from another world using a catalyst from a different world was quite normal.

Strictly speaking, the Fenian Cycle used by Kayneth and the vial containing stains left by some kind of liquid from the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne used by the Yggdmillennia didn't quite align with Arkhan's concept.

He was summoned by those catalysts simply because he forcibly seized the summoning positions from the rightful Servants.

Naturally, the cost of doing so was that he had to sacrifice some of his power. Fortunately, with his already powerful power, this degree of loss was still within acceptable limits.

With the power of 'Savior', Arkhan quickly searched for worlds in crisis. However, what surprised him was that one of the worlds emitted an unusually brilliant light.

He had rarely seen such brightness before, as dazzling as the sun itself.

From that radiant light, he felt an indescribable attraction, almost making it impossible for him to look away, wishing to dive in immediately.

"A connection of this magnitude... it's enough to allow me to descend in complete form!"

Arkhan's face showed rare excitement. Facing a crisis and with his concepts fitting so perfectly, such a perfect opportunity to descend was simply a stroke of luck!

If he were to give up now, he'd probably be struck down by divine lightning!

"I have no idea why this catalyst is so closely connected to me... Meh, whatever! I've decided it's you!"

Arkhan immediately directed his mind toward the brilliant world. But suddenly, he sensed a thin barrier preventing his advance.

"Hmm?" Arkhan furrowed his brow slightly.

From this barrier, he felt a distinct sense of rejection. It wasn't coming from the world but from the Throne of Heroes itself, preventing him.

He quickly came to an understanding that the Counter Force didn't want him to descend into that world!

"What does this mean?" Arkhan puzzled, furrowing his brow.

He had never heard of such an occurrence.

Why would the Counter Force inexplicably stop him? He was going to save the world, not stir up any sort of trouble.

However, as Arkhan was busy pondering, he saw the immensely vibrant light suddenly weaken drastically and simultaneously felt the presence of that world in his perception become much thinner.

He quickly realized that the Counter Force was severing his connection to that world!

Arkhan suddenly became furious.

It was like cutting off someone's money or worse, killing their parents.

"After finally finding such a suitable world, you're going to cut me off? I won't let you!"

Without hesitation, Arkhan gathered all his strength and fiercely rammed into the thin barrier!

"Get out of my way!"

===

Volume 5 ended.