Passing through the pitch-black vortex, Naohara arrived in a star-filled void.
Looking around, his entire field of vision was filled with tentacles.
Tentacles carrying corrosive power grew from every corner.
At some point, Herohero's true body had already left the small world where it originally resided.
At the center of the starry space floated a mass made of flesh and slime, tangled together into a spherical shape that emitted a faint, eerie glow.
"Thump. Thump. Thump."
The sound of a beating heart echoed continuously, sending ripples through the empty void.
"What's going on?"
Naohara took a deep breath. The air carried a strong corrosive force, and the moment it entered his nose, his brows immediately knit together.
Much like Momonga specialized in the undead, Herohero was a character specialized in corrosion.
Herohero possessed the close combat class [Monk].
Originally, because slimes had extremely weak arm strength, Herohero had never been able to make proper use of that class.
However, the racial traits of the [Ancient Black Ooze] allowed Herohero to use the [Monk] class to greatly amplify his corrosive abilities.
Not only could it corrode equipment with resistance, even Divine-class Items were no exception.
Against Players, it was an extremely terrifying combat power.
And now, Herohero had fused with the World Boss [Wings of the End - Níðhöggr].
After obtaining its decaying trait, his power had risen to an entirely new level.
In an environment like this, most level 100 Players would feel severe discomfort and fall into a continuous HP loss debuff.
Of course, Naohara was not among them.
Leaving aside everything else, the attribute of [Catastrophe] alone made him immune to corrosion.
After all, that power was born from the resentment of a destroyed world.
In terms of quality, it far surpassed both decay and corrosion.
Simply put, it was like taking a few deep drags of strong smoke.
The power of Catastrophe turned into black mist and wrapped around his entire body.
Naohara waved his hand.
The countless tentacles trembled and immediately retreated, clearing a path.
After opening a way forward, Naohara flew straight toward the fleshy sphere at the center of the starry void.
Perhaps because of Herohero's subconscious influence, even though it sensed the threat, the sphere did not attack.
Looking at the mass before him, Naohara's eyebrows twitched slightly.
The instinct of the [Dragonslayer] that longed to bathe in Dragon Blood was awakening.
Naohara could clearly feel it.
That immense and unnatural dragon power within it.
"It smells amazing… I wonder how it would taste?"
The thought surfaced in Naohara's mind, but the next moment he violently shook his head.
[Dragonic Will]
Activating the passive skill, a flash of emerald light passed over him and calmed the agitation in his mind.
Tch. He really couldn't afford to relax.
For a brief moment, he had actually thought, "Taking a small bite probably wouldn't matter."
After some time, once he had fully calmed down,
Naohara finally extended his hand and placed it against the fleshy sphere, sensing the changes inside.
"Hm? This is… insufficient magic power?"
"No… it feels more like something is missing."
Retracting his hand, Naohara rubbed his chin.
Herohero's situation was actually better than he had expected. The fusion had not gone wrong. On the contrary, it had progressed very smoothly.
However, something seemed to be missing, causing the process to stall.
As a result, Herohero's consciousness had fallen into a deep slumber.
"Wings of the End - Níðhöggr… the missing part…"
Naohara's thoughts turned as he began analyzing.
Fragments of past memories flashed through his mind before finally stopping at a particular detail.
"A [Dragon Lord Core]?"
Summoned creatures shouldn't have dragon crystals.
Could it be missing something like that?
Well, no harm in trying.
Acting immediately, Naohara clenched his fist and thrust it straight through his own chest, stirring around inside his body.
Then he suddenly pulled his hand out.
A transparent crystal appeared in his palm.
"Since the original Dragon Crystal is gone, mine should work just fine."
Naohara thought silently.
At the wound on his chest, flesh rapidly wriggled and regenerated, healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
At the same time, sensing the drop in his attributes, the effect of [Dragon Blood Sacrifice] activated.
As his Dragon Blood boiled and his magic power was consumed, a new Dragon Crystal gradually began to form within his body.
"It still needs a bit more stimulation."
Naohara considered it briefly. Then he opened his inventory. A flash of light appeared, and a massive sword materialized in his hand.
The pinnacle of Divine-class Items: [Dragon Destruction Sword].
The enormous blade was embedded with several dark red gems, each representing a powerful special effect.
Five gems were set into the blade starting from the hilt, but at the very end there was still one empty slot.
However, compared to before, a faint illusory gem could now be seen flickering within the socket.
As if with the right trigger, it could fully materialize and push the weapon into an entirely new realm.
[Divine-class Item Release!]
Naohara raised the [Dragon Destruction Sword] and slashed it hard across his own arm.
Instantly, bright red Dragon Blood burst forth and spilled across the blade.
"My sword, drink your fill of my blood."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a terrifying presence began to awaken.
A roar rose from faint murmurs to a thunderous cry that seemed to shake the heavens.
The [Dragon Destruction Sword] trembled.
It was trembling with excitement.
For a fleeting moment, it felt as though one could see mountains of corpses and oceans of blood. Countless dragon corpses lay piled together, with a single sword silently embedded among them.
When the blade had been completely dyed crimson, Naohara did not hesitate.
He thrust it straight into the fleshy sphere.
The previously steady heartbeat stopped instantly.
Then the next moment, a thunderous heartbeat erupted like rolling thunder.
Deep within the fleshy mass, a consciousness was stimulated and slowly began to awaken.
Without stopping, Naohara held the Dragon Crystal and forcefully pressed it into the sphere.
"That should be enough."
Ignoring the tentacles convulsing around him, Naohara pulled out the [Dragon Destruction Sword] and let out a somewhat weary sigh.
Creating a Dragon Crystal and losing that much blood…
Even for him, it had been a bit much.
If he wanted to fully recover, he would need at least two days of rest.
After checking Herohero's condition one last time, and confirming everything looked satisfactory, Naohara left directly.
Right now, he was going to have a huge meal and then enjoy a long, restful sleep.