Ciara strutted her chest and spoke proudly.

“Yes. The more difficult things are, the more people will look for a savior. With 2.3 billion people dead, I was confident in making Hero-nim into a God. I just had to cut off the few dissenting voices and amplify the positive voices. It was simple.”

She had experience controlling the media with her clan’s power. Contrary to my belief, she hadn’t cut off her relationship with the Kenex clan. In fact, she was most likely its ruler. With her clan’s power and the power of her future sight, manipulating the popular opinion should have been simple.

“Setting me aside, how did you trick Daisy?”

“Hero-nim, I am an Evil Eyes beholder.”

The cross in her eyes shone fiercely.

“My League isn’t so low as to be analyzed by such low-grade Evil Eyes.”

“I see.”

“Hero-nim, please ask if you have more questions! I will answer any questions you have!”

“Why did you enter the dungeon? Were you afraid I would lose to Sherafina?”

“Of course not. There’s no way someone who can’t even beat me could beat Hero-nim!”

Right, that was the same conclusion I came to just now. A conclusion that made all the preparation I made against Sherafina look foolish.

Ciara continued to answer my question.

“It was to make use of that Irregular’s ability.”

Immediately, I began to feel uneasy.

“How?”

“Her League might have been low, but her ability was certainly shocking! To think she could transfer worlds’ powers as she wished! With an ability like that, we can quickly complete Hero-nim’s power.”

An even more cruel thought arose.

“Then, you mean...”

“Yes. I will connect Earth with all other worlds. I’ll transfer their worlds’ powers to Hero-nim, so Hero-nim just has to absorb them! Our plan will be complete!”

Ciara’s eyes were shining incomparably.

“So Hero-nim, please don’t defy me. I don’t wish to bring harm to Hero-nim. It will hurt for just a moment, so please bear with it!”

“What... You...!”

Suddenly, it became difficult to talk. Why? Obviously, it was because this space was densely packed with ‘Sherafina’s’ now Ciara’s mana. An immense pressure was pressing down on my body.

Though somewhat ridiculous, with Sherafina’s power, Ciara was undoubtedly stronger than me.

If all worlds’ powers became concentrated into me like she said, the situation would be reversed, but it would be too late once that happened. Just separating the few worlds’ powers I had in my body would take ages. Once countless other worlds’ powers became forcibly fused, it would be impossible to reverse it.

No, in the worst case...

“You, what will become of you afterward?”

“Yes, I will become a suitable existence for the name Hero-nim will have.”

“What if I kill you, take the power distribution ability you have and give back worlds’ powers?”

“Hero-nim, absorbing the worlds’ powers is simply a process, not a goal. I understand you have lingering affection towards other worlds, but please give up. Once you wake up, it will be irreversible.”

Ciara continued to squeeze our her mana as she hummed joyfully. Sherafina’s mana flew towards me with a different power than Enigma.

Though it was Ciara who was controlling Sherafina’s mana, she was doing it naturally and effortlessly. Her talent in learning Peruta Circuit surprised me before, but the level of control she was showing had far surpassed the talent she showed me.

I fought back with Enigma, but Sherafina’s mana suppressed it with raw power. But this wasn’t too unexpected. If I was confident in beating Sherafina with only Enigma, I wouldn’t have been so nervous in the first place.

Not to mention, we were in a space created for and by Sherafina. Even if I moved just a bit, her mana reacted sensitively.

I tried to attack her with Divine Speed, but it was futile. Manipulating her mana fluidly, Ciara easily blocked me with a smile. Then, while I contemplated the moves I could make, she sighed and curled her fingers to a hook shape.

“It can’t be helped. It’ll hurt, but please bear with it. I’m not as skilled as Hero-nim, so I can’t control someone else’s power too well. Eit.”

I immediately realized what she was trying to do. Sherafina’s power rose up and a devouring pressure overwhelmed me.

She was trying to suck out all of the dungeon’s power from me. Ridiculous! She could wield Sherafina’s power to this extent already?!

Although I was shocked by her skillfulness, I was relieved by her action itself.

“Eh?”

“Give it up, Ciara.”

“How? Hero-nim, you should have that woman’s power inside you, right?”

“I did, but it’s a bit different now.”

“Oh wow.”

Ciara acted surprised as she tilted her head.

“Don’t tell me, Hero-nim completely absorbed it? She must have put several locks to prevent Hero-nim from doing that, how amazing! Hero-nim is really amazing!”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

“You sure are detestable.”

“How mean. But it’s okay, I know Hero-nim loves me deep down inside! You fixed my eyes after all!”

“That’s my life’s greatest regret.”

As I blurted out curtly, I became certain of one thing. She couldn’t use her foresight ability in this space. If she knew she couldn’t absorb the dungeon’s power from me, she wouldn’t have carried it out. It could only mean she was unable to achieve a perfect future sight in this space.

Of course, the reason she couldn’t steal the dungeon’s power from me was simple. Currently, the dungeon’s power was tied to me by a certain medium. This medium was an item that had stayed with me for a long time - the Collector’s Pocket Watch.

The pocket watch was an odd item even in terms of the dungeon’s rules. Whether it be the power of the dungeon or the power of an artifact, the pocket watch could absorb it and let me wield it.

At first, the pocket watch was just as mysterious as any other dungeon item, the more I climbed the dungeon, the more I came to know that it wasn’t a simple item. Once the pocket watch let me synthesize skills, my suspicions became solid doubt. From it, I obtained Overlord. In a way, the pocket watch was what made me reach where I was today.

And it was none other than Loretta who gave me the pocket watch. Not long ago, I asked Loretta if she had my identity in mind when she gave me the pocket watch and she nodded unhesitatingly. Right, Loretta had known for a long time that Sherafina had tricked her, and the pocket watch was her secret weapon against her.

Not long ago, the pocket watch went through a final change. The final product was simple. It stored any number of external powers, synthesized them and let its user wield them freely. Its purpose was even simpler.

That was to transfer Sherafina’s power to a different medium and convert it to a different power, and thus even if Sherafina tried to take the power away or tried to use it to harm me, she would be unable to. As long as I had this item, I would be released from the fate of explorers, which was to be at the whim of the Dungeon Lord.

However, the pocket watch’s power had been blocked once before. That was when I fought the demon Lespina. Other than that one time, it had never been blocked. Then why was blocked against Lespina?

Lespina was a deviant who was unique even among demons. Unlike the Five Kings or the other worlds’ enemies I’ve faced, she didn’t simply reject Sherafina’s power, she rejected any power that wasn’t pure. That was why she could reject the pocket watch’s power after she perceived it.

In any case, the fact that Ciara was oblivious about the pocket watch’s existence proved that she was no different than Sherafina in this space.

Though I was quite shocked at first, fighting Sherafina or fighting Ciara was no different!

“Geez, it really isn’t easy, is it? Hero-nim is just too excellent. Though, that’s what I like about Hero-nim, huhu.”

“I might like you if you just die here.”

“Hehe, there you will again with the tease. I already know how much love you have for me!”

Her mana shot towards me from all sides, but my control over mana didn’t lose out either. Even against an enemy who beat my mana both qualitatively and quantitatively, I had the confidence to stand firm. As I thought she would predict my attacks with her foresight ability at first, my shoulders lost strength.

“Looks like you really can’t use your foresight ability in this place.”

“My Evil Eyes isn’t something like Evil Eyes of Future Sight. Hero-nim, these eyes let me see vividly the record of all past and future of the planet called Earth. They’re also what lets me help Hero-nim!”

So it was like that. I thought Sherafina’s power was resisting her, but it seemed Ciara’s Evil Eyes had an absurd ability. Her Evil Eyes weren’t the eyes of an ability user, but an administrator!

She said her League was lower than mine? She was only being humble. Someone who knew everything about a world couldn’t possibly have a lower League than me! If she returned to Earth, there might be no way to stop her.

But thankfully, it seemed the power of her eyes was limited to the premises of Earth. That explained why she had trouble using her ability on matters related to the dungeon. Another suspicion rose up.

“How did you find out about Sherafina?”

“I didn’t know her name. I simply found out about the existence of the dungeon and its hindrance to our plan. The rest was easy. Once I have the keyword, I can pull out any information about it from Earth’s memory.”

What heaven-defying ability! In other words, the only thing Ciara couldn’t see among everything I did was what I did in other worlds.

Even at this very moment, Ciara was working to connect Earth to all other worlds. She knew that an infinite number of worlds and an infinite number of beings would perish. Yet, her expression was bright. Rather than her might, her distorted will was much more frightening.

“Ciara, why are you going so far?”

“It’s because I love Hero-nim! I only exist for Hero-nim!”

“I don’t need something like this.”

“But you do, Hero-nim. I know it. You might not be able to understand it now, but trust me and just wait a bit.”

It was impossible to get through her. The values we had were hopelessly different.

Talking to her was meaningless. If anything, it would only serve as a way to relieve her boredom while she connected Earth to other worlds.

Even so, I couldn’t help but ask. There was still something I wanted to know.

Staring at her, I asked.

“Do you remember Lespina?”