"I see, thanks for the report," I remarked with a nod of approval.
"There is no need to thank me, I am only doing my job, my lord," Responded Jhin with a bow.
Today's the 7th of January, about a week and a half since the last battle ended. Yesterday, I'd just finished transferring the life forces of the captured enemies, which were almost exclusively Fairies, into several of my Troopers and Sentinels.
And I put Jhin in charge of compiling a report on the increases in their power levels as a result of the acquired life force. And based on his report, it looks like we've had steady increases in power right across the board.
"Well, either way, I appreciate it. I see that your own power level has increased a fair bit too...though given your competence, I'd really like it if you were at least somewhere around the 50,000 mark," I mused wistfully.
"That sentiment honors me, my lord, but I am content at my current rate of growth, there is no need to rush it," He replied gratefully.
Hm, is there a way that I can increase his power? I've got a fair amount of Divine Magic at my disposal that I acquired from Sant, but I need to save that for the battle against Samsara. Afterwards, assuming we win and I have some left, I can determine if I can spare a bit to power up some of my skilled subordinates that have low power levels.
Prato is another one whose power level I'd like to raise, given his skill level. Yeah, him and Jhin are definitely the two that I want powered up the most right now. Oh, wait, that's right...I have two powers in my arsenal that are excess. And I can give them away without weakening myself.
Specifically, Defense Magic and Destruction Magic. Diablo has analyzed those two powers that I gained from Sant, and determined that they're no less or more effective than my Absolute Defense Cross and my Demonic Obliteration Magic.
I can't give away Obliteration Magic since it's a part of Diablo and severing it from him could damage his consciousness, according to him, anyway. So I'll have to give away Destruction Magic instead...it may be a form of Divine Magic, but it's pretty much identical to Obliteration Magic, the only difference is the color.
And as for the two similar defensive powers that I have, they're both great, but I think I'll give away the Absolute Defense Cross instead of the Defense Magic. I decided on that because the latter has a much shorter cooldown time...other than that, there's barely any difference between the two.
As for who I could transfer them to, Persia or Rai certainly come to mind, but I need to think about the overall balance of my troops, and it'd be a waste to let those with high level skills remain weak due to their current upper limits. Plus, you know, I don't want to be accused of favoritism.
"Huh...yeah, that works. Come over here, Jhin, I've got something to give you," I remarked with a grin, as I extended my claws out.
He did as I said, walking over towards me. As he approached my throne, I reached out and pierced his shoulder with a couple of claws, before transferring Destruction Magic into him. Aaaand, done.
"What-...this feeling, what is it? It is as though my power is surging...," He mumbled as his eyes widened.
"Remind me what your power level was the last time you measured it, again?" I inquired, as I picked up my Power Reader glasses and put them on.
"Oh, it was a little bit over 9,000, my lord," He responded.
Wait, what? For real? Damn, what a waste, feels almost wrong to change it...
"I see, not bad. But with this latest boost, it looks like your current power level stands at...22,700," I read out the display, as I scanned him.
"Huh? But that is more than double of what it was, how is that possible?" He asked in surprise.
"Simple, I gave you Destruction Magic. It works exactly the same as Obliteration Magic, and has also boosted your physical state significantly, since it's a form of Divine Magic," I explained.
"But-...are you certain that you want to give me such a power?" He responded uncertainly, "Surely there are many others who would be more suitable?"
"I've made my decision, and besides, I can't take back or transfer that power to someone else without killing you, so yeah, it's all yours. Use it well for the sake of Abyss," I stated authoritatively.
"Yes, my lord, I shall strive to live up to your expectations! I shall not disappoint you!" He exclaimed firmly in response.
"Glad to hear it."
...
...
"What do you think the cut-off will be?" I inquired with a frown.
"Hm...maybe around 30,000 or so? It's hard to say for sure since all the monsters are targets," Sighed Az in response.
It was a few hours later, after I powered Jhin up, I called Prato to the throne room and gave him the Absolute Defense Cross. And now, I was currently in the middle of a discussion with Az. Specifically, regarding not-God's targets and how powerful someone has to be before being targeted by him.
"Of the names that he did mention, the one with the lowest power level was Belia," I recalled, before adding, "But her power level, even now, is still pretty high. In which case, the better question would be, what's the minimum power level that we should accept regarding the team we assemble to go up against not-God?"
"I'd say we should go with no lower than 80,000. Anyone who's at a level lower than that would probably only get in the way," Sighed Az in response, "However, that doesn't give us very many options."
"That's fine, we don't need too many people. A medium-sized group of the best of the best in this world, that's probably our best chance of winning this," I surmised with a sigh, "We'll inform Liberty and the Rustlands of the cut-off, and give them Power Readers-...actually, now that I think about it, we don't need to give one to Liberty, since the three Elemental Sages are the only ones with power levels above the cut-off."
"True. Hm, I suppose that once all those who will be taking part in the battle are determined, we'll have to train with them, right?" Realized Az with a frown.
"Yeah, that's right. And that's why I don't want it to be a group that's too big, we've probably only got about two and a half weeks or so before not-God comes after us," I stated grimly.
Not-God had said that he'd come after us in a month...more than ten days have already passed since then...
"Assuming that he emerges on the 25th of January, that's eighteen days, to be precise...but it could easily be a lot sooner than that too," Remarked Az with a grimace.
"When you put it that way, I guess we don't really have any time to waste, huh? I'll go inform Liberty and the Rustlands in a bit, and tomorrow, we'll begin training with them. How many of ours make the cut, by the way?" I asked him.
"Hm? Let's see...there's you and me, of course, plus Draco, Fuo, Persia and Rion, who just barely makes the cut. So, six in total. Nine with the three Elemental Sages. And from the Rustlands, I think it might just be two who make the cut, Belia and Shiro. Oh, and maybe that Shin guy too."
"Twelve, huh? At least a couple more or so would've been ideal, but it's fine, it's a good enough amount. Our focus is quality, not quantity, after all. Though we should probably think of a way to hide the others that are highly powerful but don't quite make the cut, since they're probably targets too. Well, regarding the Dragons, Vampires and other monsters, we know that they're being targeted for sure, so we need to figure out a way to keep them safe from not-God. The problem is that he can probably use Observation Magic, and while not as freely as Belia can, he has more than enough Divine Magic to spare," I frowned.
"You've got some Divine Magic too, right? Maybe Belia can use that to somehow come up with a countermeasure," Suggested Az, after mulling it over.
"Oh, that could work. Still, for all we know, not-God is spying on us right now. This is the worst, I liked it a lot better when I was the one spying...well, I mean, I still am, but the former Laus Domain is beyond my sight right now," I sighed wistfully.
"It can't be helped. We'll just have to deal with this situation on the fly, since there are too many unknown variables preventing us from planning too far ahead," Stated Az grimly.
"Yeah, I guess you've got a point. Well, anyway, I think that it's about time that I headed out to Liberty and the Rustlands to inform them of we've discussed," I remarked, as I summoned a monster, before adding, "It's time we started preparing in earnest..."
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP