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"Here, it's yours... But you have to listen to me."
Anos watched Ophis clutching the plush, and for a brief second, even his composure nearly cracked. He cleared his throat, regaining his seriousness.
"Mm…"
Ophis nodded softly and hugged the panda to her chest. Her lips parted slightly, as if she were quietly marveling at how soft it felt.
"What I need isn't your Serpents," Anos said calmly. "I need your power at its source."
A crimson-gold sphere manifested at his chest.
The Ark Sphere.
To unlock new worlds, the Sphere required power on Ophis' level or higher.
And when it pierced through dimensions, it granted him a degree of selection.
That choice—
That was what he truly wanted.
If world travel were only about plundering faith from undeveloped pantheons, it would hardly be worth the risk.
What he needed now was transformation.
At the fundamental level.
"The red sphere…"
Ophis' eyes sharpened.
She recognized it.
The dimensional anomaly that had descended upon this world.
It hadn't vanished.
It had been claimed.
"So it wasn't gone after all."
For once, her expression shifted noticeably. She had come here partly to search for traces of that very phenomenon.
"You need my power to activate it?"
"Yes, in return, I can help you defeat Great Red Or… take you to another world."
Anos met her gaze evenly.
He wouldn't have revealed the Ark Sphere unless he had confidence.
Even if Ophis chose to strike, he believed he could retreat intact—
Though at a high cost.
World traversal had to begin.
For that, he needed her.
Ophis fell silent.
Another world…
She was curious.
But—
Great Red's head was still more interesting.
"Can't I choose both?"
She looked at him blankly.
Anos blinked, then laughed softly.
He had expected negotiation.
Instead—
She had already agreed.
There was nothing to bargain.
He would act within his limits regardless. Until he reached a certain threshold, Ophis would not demand anything from him.
After all, even Cao Cao had borrowed her power for years without consequence. She simply hadn't considered him worthy yet.
"Of course you can choose both."
Anos smiled.
"Mm... Then I agree."
She nodded lightly.
"What do I do?"
"Place your hand on the Sphere."
He exhaled slowly.
"Alright…"
Ophis extended her hand without hesitation.
Truthfully, from the moment she saw it, she had wanted to touch it.
Her fingers brushed the crimson-gold surface—
And her eyes widened.
Warmth.
A serenity unlike anything she had known.
It wasn't like the aura of the Biblical God.
It was different.
Completely different.
Before she could dwell on it—
The Sphere erupted in light.
She inhaled sharply.
In an instant, it drained an amount of power equivalent to a full Tannin.
The Dragon King Tannin possessed strength at peak Maou-class, perhaps beyond.
And that was only the beginning.
When she tested withdrawing her hand, she found she could.
She chose not to.
"Infinite" was only a title.
Ophis' infinity was a pseudo-infinity.
Born of chaos, the Ouroboros embodied endlessness—
But in truth, her power was finite.
She simply regenerated extraordinarily fast.
Even a fully unleashed Longinus could not outpace that recovery.
Yet now—
After only a second—
She felt the equivalent of a full Ddraig drained.
Ddraig was no ordinary transcendent. One of the Two Heavenly Dragons, his true body ranked among the world's top ten.
Seconds passed.
More power vanished.
Only when her reserves approached depletion did the Sphere finally cease.
"I didn't expect it to require this much…"
Ophis rarely showed surprise.
Today, she had done so repeatedly.
She had planned to pull away when she had only one Ddraig's worth of power left.
Instead—
Though greatly diminished, she still retained more than two Ddraigs' worth.
Enough to crush the world's second-strongest being with ease.
For the first time—
The Infinite Dragon God had become temporarily finite.
Inside the Sphere—
[Energy absorption complete, Initiating world-link protocol.]
[Connecting…]
[Connecting…]
[Connection successful.]
[World Gate I established. Duration: One year.]
[World Gate II established. Duration: One year.]
[World Gate III established. Duration: One year.]
Anos' eyes gleamed.
Finally.
The gates to other worlds had opened.
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