Nazarick, First Floor.
As the teleportation magic circle lit up, the well-fed trio of Naohara appeared on the first floor.
"Phew, that really hit the spot."
Momonga, now back in his undead form, spoke with a trace of nostalgia. He had eaten quite a lot just now. To keep going, he had even cast a digestion acceleration spell on himself.
"Then you'd better take good care of that item. I only have the one. If you break it, I won't have a spare for you."
Naohara lazily patted his completely unchanged stomach as he spoke. Maybe it was because he was a Dragonoid, but after eating his fill, he suddenly felt like taking a nap.
"Don't worry. Right now, its importance to me surpasses even World-Class Items."
Momonga patted his ribcage and made the promise with a smile. He wasn't exaggerating. In his heart, that item had already risen to the highest rank.
Its importance was second only to Naohara and Herohero.
"Good. By the way, Blackie, what's with you? You've been dragging yourself along this whole time."
Naohara replied, then realized someone was missing beside him. He turned and looked at the wriggling mass behind them.
Herohero had reverted to his original form and stopped maintaining his humanoid shape. He was inching forward at an excruciatingly slow pace.
It almost made it seem like even a snail could outrun him.
"Can't help it. Ate too much. Don't feel like moving."
Herohero glanced at Naohara with difficulty, sounding drowsy, as though he might slump over at any second.
"Forget it. Sebas, have Solution come carry Herohero. At this rate, we'll be here forever."
Naohara looked helplessly at the soft, collapsed lump that was Herohero, then turned to Sebas, who had been following behind the three of them.
"As you command, Naohara-sama."
Sebas replied respectfully and immediately activated his communicator to contact Solution. He moved so quickly it almost seemed preplanned, leaving Herohero no time to stop him.
"No… Naohara, you bastard! Why did you have to call Solution?!"
"A random maid could've done it just fine!"
Seeing Sebas look over with an innocent expression, Herohero instantly shed his lethargy. His slime body sprang up and flung itself at Naohara's face, enveloping his entire head.
A stream of furious complaints poured straight into Naohara's mind through their communication, giving him a splitting headache.
"Mmph! I— Mmph! Momonga… help…"
With his head completely wrapped in slime, Naohara pretended to struggle while looking toward Momonga, who was enjoying the show, silently asking for help.
"Pfft. Naohara, you asked for this. I'm not saving you. You know full well about Herohero's complicated feelings toward Solution, and you still called her over."
"What's that saying? You brought this on yourself."
Momonga's voice rang in Naohara's mind, thick with amusement.
Seeing Momonga stand by without lifting a finger, Naohara could only sigh inwardly. Fortunately, he was a Dragonoid. Even without breathing, he could survive. Anyone else would've suffocated by now.
And even if they hadn't, they would've been corroded. After all, Herohero belonged to the Elder Black Ooze lineage—the oldest type among slimes.
Only someone like Naohara, who had maxed out all his resistances, could ignore that level of corrosion. Herohero knew he wouldn't be harmed, which was why he dared to fool around like this.
"Ahem, Blackie, don't you think that's a bit much? It was just a joke."
After venting for a while, Herohero finally hopped down from Naohara's head.
Feeling the sticky slime clinging to him, Naohara grimaced in disgust.
With a lifeless expression, he shook his head hard. Droplets of slime flew in all directions, and wherever they landed, the floor instantly sizzled and melted, leaving behind a large, corroded hole.
"Serves you right for pulling pranks. This is your punishment."
"Wow. Next thing you know, you'll dress me up in women's clothes too, just to get your little thrill."
"If that's what you want, it's not like I can't."
"I think we should!!"
The moment those words left their mouths, Momonga, who had been quietly enjoying the show from the sidelines, suddenly jumped in. The red lights in his eye sockets flickered rapidly as he stared at Naohara with unmistakable excitement.
Naohara, who had been arguing back and forth with Herohero, immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
"M-Momonga… you're not serious, are you?"
Even Herohero looked at Momonga with fear. He and Naohara had just been joking around, but Momonga's reaction was so intense it genuinely freaked him out.
Just imagining Naohara and Herohero in that kind of situation was enough to make anyone feel sick. What kind of horrifying combination was that supposed to be?
"Ahem. Well, when you mention women's clothing, it makes me think of magical girls. What I mean is… maybe someday, we could create a real magical girl."
Forced Calm activated.
In an instant, Momonga returned to Sage Mode, explaining it to his two friends in an even, composed tone.
"Phew… so that's what you meant. You scared the hell out of me. I thought you had some weird fetish or something."
"Seriously. Your desire just now was so intense it practically felt physical. I never would've guessed you were into that kind of thing, Momonga."
Naohara and Herohero exchanged a look, and both of them visibly relaxed.
Naohara, who had honestly thought his friend had some strange hobby, felt like he'd narrowly escaped a disaster.
Still, thinking back on how long they'd known each other as neighbors, Momonga had never shown any particularly odd tendencies before. So Naohara didn't press the issue further.
"Sorry. It's just… it's been a long time since I thought about that, so I got a little carried away."
"I really didn't mean to scare you two."
Momonga continued explaining patiently, but the two red lights in his eyes drifted slightly as he stole a glance in Naohara's direction.
The truth was, he really had pictured Naohara wearing something like that, completely wrapped up in it.
The sheer scale of the fantasy playing out in his mind had made Momonga's heart race, and that was why he'd blurted it out earlier without thinking.
'Maybe that really is the thrill… ahem. Thank goodness I played it off. If Naohara ever found out, he'd kill me.'
Momonga thought uneasily as he watched Naohara chatting with Herohero.
He swore to himself that Naohara could never, ever find out.
Naohara might seem friendly and easygoing, always pulling pranks and slacking off, but if you actually managed to anger him, the consequences would be unimaginable.
After all, this was the monster in the game that tens of thousands of players had once called the Catastrophe Dragon Lord.
With his unique skill, Naohara was the kind of guy who would set off a suicidal self-destruction without hesitation the moment he snapped.
Momonga definitely didn't want to wake up one day and get blasted into the sky by Naohara's explosion.