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In this world, there existed the species called the Dragonkins.

The dragonkins could be divided into [Dragon] and [Wyrm].

Which was then even further split into four sub-species; [Pseudo-dragon], [Dragon], [Dinosaur] and [Ouroboros].

The explanation of these four from the weakest to the strongest goes as follows.

Pseudo-dragon was the classification given to those mutated from the lizards or snakes which originally had outer appearances similar to that of dragons. Although they were classified as part of the dragonkin, they were technically not dragons.

These pseudo-dragons were the post-mutated species of reptiles such as Komodo dragons and giant girdled lizards which also existed back on Earth. Once they were mutated by mana, as they could only be described as dragon-like magical beasts, they were called ‘Pseudo-dragons’.

Needless to say, the wyverns that Mars were previously controlling was within this category. As a side note, the pre-mutated state of the wyvern was the gliding lizard.

Additionally, when the snakes mutated, as their outer appearances became similar to those of wyrms, they were sometimes called [Pseudo-wyrms]. It was truly confusing.

If one were to ask why there were such confusing and needless distinctions and categorisations, that was because, during the initial consumer release of the game, the dragon-like monster was embarrassingly introduced as a small-fry monster.

Later on, when the setting for the dragon was established, players retorted back (tsukommi) by saying “dragon already came out during the initial release”, which stomped the developers on what to do about their game.

The developers had completely forgotten that they had already introduced dragons as small fry monsters.

As they could not come up with a solution to this issue, they made up the confusing settings of “pseudo-dragons” as an excuse after saying “Those are not dragons. They’re just ‘fake dragons’; a mutated form of snakes.”

And that was the circumstance behind the birth of the pseudo-dragons.

Needless to say, as they were merely reptiles which had mutated into magical beasts with their outer appearances resembling those of dragons, they were not actually dragons.

As a consequence, their abilities were not significant and were merely strong-looking small fries.

Although they were merely fakes, as their outer appearances were “cool”, they were popular amongst the tamers.

Next was the [Dinosaurs].

These creatures existed from the past in this world of Midgard and were authentic dinosaurs that had not yet been wiped out.

In other words, dinosaurs were merely animals and thus not even magical beasts.

Notwithstanding, the dinosaurs were quite strong to the extent of easily eating weaker magical beasts, demons and adventurers.

At the very least, they were a significantly scarier and stronger group compared to the pseudo-dragons.

To begin with, as the recent research on the dinosaurs back on Earth had established that dinosaurs had feathers on them, I believe the dinosaurs here were quite different from the dinosaurs there.

Essentially, they looked like giant-reptile that were often portrayed in the 20th-century artworks of the dinosaurs.

The next on the list was [Dragon]. Fundamentally in this world, when one mentions the word “dragon”, this category was what they were describing.

These creatures were also magical beasts that were mutated by mana, however, their original form was what made them so fearsome.

That was because this category of [Dragon] was the result of the aforementioned dinosaurs that had mutated.

Even in the base form, the dinosaurs were already monstrously strong, thus after the mutation, they became ridiculously and stupidly overpowered.

Back on Earth, there was a movie where the dinosaur was transformed into a monster due to the exposure to the radioactivity. It was essentially the same situation.

Dragons had huge and hard bodies as well as the ability to breathe out fire. As a consequence, even if the average players back in the game challenged a single dragon by banding together, they had to struggle through a difficult battle.

In particular, those dragons which had mutated from the carnivorous dinosaurs were especially dangerous.

Using the likes of 7 Luminaries as an example, even if Mars cloned himself ten times and challenged a dragon, he would still lose even against a single one.

Notwithstanding, there was a monster that overshadowed those already overpowered monsters.

And that was that what was in front of my eyes – [Ouroboros].

Level: 1000

Species: Ouroboros

Attribute: Sun

HP: 10 000 000 / 10 000 000

SP: ∞

STR (Strength/Attack Power): ?????

DEX (Dexterity): ????

VIT (Vitality): ?????

INT (Intelligence): ????

AGI (Agility/Speed): ?????

MND (Mindpower): ????

LUK (Luck): ????

I used my [Observing Eyes] to check the status, but just this time alone, I was happy that I could not see anything.

Its HP was such a high value that I had never seen before, and its SP was particularly scary as it was set at infinity.

In other words, it was one of those common situations in the game where “only the enemy can use whatever and however many skills they want to use”.

Perhaps this was because the ouroboros were considered to be the protectors of the world, so they could tap into the power of the world an unlimited number of times.

“The 5 Ouroboroses… exists, I see.”

I had heard of the term 5 Ouroboroses before. Although they were only mentioned in the lore, I thought I knew about their existence.

But looking at the thing that was in front of me, I understood… that it was not good.

It was something that must never be woken up, something out of our dimension.

I will say it bluntly. Even having Ruphas’s spec, I did not feel like I could win against that.

I would probably be able to put up a good fight, but I would still lose due to the overwhelming difference in our HP.

Even assuming that I was able to constantly dish out my max damage, it’s suggesting that “you wouldn’t be able to defeat it unless you can attack it 101 times.”

Just perhaps, it may be possible if I teamed up with the entire cast of 7 Heroes back in their prime….

Even though it was merely sleeping, I could feel how dangerous it was in my bones.

I could feel the tingling sensation just by looking at its sleeping face.

“Normally, they are in an eternal hibernation state. However, when the world faces a true peril, they will wake up and fulfil their duties to protect.”

“Is the reason I sealed up this place to contain this guy?”

“In practice, my containment barrier doesn’t have the power to seal an ouroboros. However, by maintaining the surrounding in a state that it previously was, whatever happens outside would not be sensed by the ouroboros, and thus it would be deluded into thinking that the peace was still being maintained. The reason I drove everyone out of Vanaheim back then was to prevent the people from becoming collateral damage during the one-in-a-million chance the ouroboros wakes from its slumber.”

“…………Just a while ago, Aries and others went on a rampage but.”

“I was also dumbfounded and flustered. Good thing it didn’t wake up but… if it had woken up, my effort for the past 200 years would be gone down the drain.”

“A, apologies.”

I was sweating from my palm and appreciated the good luck that we had.

I neither thought nor expected that there would be a slumbering dragon, but if it had woken up from our uproar a moment ago, it would have been game over for all of us.

Or maybe not. It might be possible for us to successfully run away.

“Did Merak and the others know about this thing’s existence?”

“Even amongst the Flugels, only a few of them knew about its existence. I naturally assume Merak knew about it. However, they believed this ouroboros to be a guardian deity of some sort.”

“Guardian deity…. I see, so the water dragon Levia in Svalinn was an imitation of this.”

“Yes. It was a fake deity that Megrez created using the ouroboros as a model. That is what Levia is.”

Guardian deity… huh.

Indeed, Levia had the majestic aura to deserve that title.

Notwithstanding, once the creature had too much of that majestic aura to the point of destroying everything in its surrounding every time it moved, it simply become a destruction deity.

At the very least, in my personal view, knowing that there were four more of these things around, I thought that it was more of a reason that I could not come to admire them as a guardian deity.

Wasn’t that right? Think about it.

If the Goddess suddenly had a whim to simultaneously take all five of these guys out on a stroll, the world would end at that point.

Just by moving, the surrounding would be destroyed and people would die. Something like that was no longer a guardian deity. It was a destruction deity.

Guardian deity – this thing was too enormous to name itself that.

“In the past, milady planned to destroy the Goddess’s scenario. Nevertheless, even if it was milady, there was no chance of winning against the Goddess and the five ouroboroses’ combined might at the same time. Therefore, milady decided to plan ahead and sealed the five ouroboroses first. Furthermore, you decided to take the Demon King down first before unifying and gathering the whole Midgard with its might to challenge the Goddess to a war.”

“…….. Once the world is in grave danger, it will awaken – is that what you said? What is the criterion for the world to be considered in grave danger? At the moment, the humanoids have already been driven into a corner by the demons. Should the current situation not be considered a grave danger to the world?”

“I also do not know. However, I believe the criterion is solely based on the Goddess’s arbitration of the situation. The fact that she has not once in history decided to wake the ouroboros up means that she has never considered that to be a grave danger, or……”

“Or that she approves of the situation, is that what you’re trying to say?”

“Exactly.”

Approval, huh. That’s honestly still the better case.

The worst-case scenario would be that she was promoting it. That she was personally ordering the demons to attack the humanoids – that would be the worst-case scenario.

And judging by the current situation of the world, there was a high chance that was indeed the case.

Anyways, perhaps I should call the past Ruphas reckless….

Whatever was said about her, she was aiming too high.

There was not much to say, as let alone the Goddess or the ouroboroses, she was defeated by the 7 Heroes before she even managed to defeat the Demon King, after all.

“Are the others also being sealed?”

“Correct. After receiving life from milady, Tauros the [Bull] is in charge of the Earth Ouroboros. Aquarius the [Water Bearer] is on the Fire Ouroboros. I am on the Heavenly Ouroboros. And lastly, the Wood Ouroboros is sealed by Gemini the [Twins] after they each drove ou… after evacuating the original citizens of the land.”

“How about the Moon Ouroboros?”

“The Moon Ouroboros alone has yet to be found. It should be somewhere in the world but….”

The Moon Ouroboros, huh.

It couldn’t be living on the Moon as its name suggest, could it? – I momentarily had such a thought but convinced myself it couldn’t be the case.

Considering that Sun Ouroboros was on Midgard and not in the Sun, the Moon Ouroboros should definitely be here somewhere as well.

In other words, should the Goddess feel like ordering it to move, it was currently in a state to be able to take action.

No, perhaps it had already started moving and no one noticed it yet?

“Thank you for letting me know. Let’s return to where everyone else is, Parthenos.”

“Understood.”

In any event, I was curious as to why the Ruphas of the past sought to pick a fight with the Goddess.

Various affairs that I did not know about kept popping out one after another, and I did not even know what was what anymore.

But, there was one thing that I now understood.

“Goddess’s scenario”, “Rebellion”, and “Goddess’s Tricks”.

Now that it came to this point, even an idiot like me knew what was happening and why I was here in this place.

For the Goddess, Ruphas Mafahl was most likely a very, very troublesome existence.

An annoying existence for her.

And of course, she was. There was no other way to describe a person that was plotting a rebellion in the world that was created by her.

Thus the Goddess played some sort of little trick to seal the memory of Ruphas who was being resurrected.

And that little trick was – me.

What the hell was this sh_t… aaa god da_n it, it truly was a pile of sh_t.

I truly was just an unnecessary and extra presence.

I was just a gimmick to blanket the real Ruphas and serve as a lid to prevent her from being able to reach her goal. That was the “new role” that the Goddess granted to me!

By using an outsider like me as a blanket, she managed to seal the real Ruphas and even make the original goal forgotten and lost.

But I did not understand……. Why me?

If Ruphas was in the way, it would have been better for her to place someone else who would be devoted to the Goddess.

In any event, an objective for my journey just increased. Whatever I had to do, I would meet up with the Goddess and get it out of her why she got me involved in all of this.

… No, that’s wrong. It didn’t increase. I just finally “acquired” it for the first time.

Until now, I was just someone who was doing this and that and going with the flow without a real objective in mind. I had never left the starting point until now.

In all likelihood, even that was one of the ploys within the Goddess’s tricks. She had most probably chosen someone who move aimlessly on their whim.

Someone who was optimistic and went with the flow without worrying about anything… There was no doubt that she had purposefully chosen some idiot like that.

In other words, someone like me.

After feeling happy that I was summoned into another world, I felt like going on a journey, so I did. I then found out that the 12 Heavenly Stars were causing havoc, so I decided to gather them because I felt like it. I knew I wouldn’t move around at all if there was no ‘goal’ so I created a ‘goal’ on a whim and just went with the flow otherwise.

But this time, it’s different.

I want to know. I want to know why the Goddess brought me from the other world. Why she chose me over others.

I was not able to let things slide without finding that out.

And most of all, I could not feel good knowing that I was being used by someone, somewhere without even knowing the reason why.

The reason the Goddess put me into Ruphas was because Ruphas was an annoying existence for her.

Therefore I was used as a way to blanket the original Ruphas.

Then… then it was fine. If that was what the Goddess disliked, then that would be what I would do.

I would find out what the original goal of Ruphas was and I would do what original Ruphas was going to do.

If I did something like that, even the Goddess would not stay silent.

Without a doubt, she would come into contact with me.

As such, I was going to put my all into chasing after myself (Ruphas).

I would follow in her footsteps and achieve what she was trying to do.

This was not my sense of justice, it was also not what one would call courage, and of course, it was not out of concern for the distressing future of the world.

It was simply a grudge.

It was simply retaliation against the Goddess who had gotten me involved.

*

After we regrouped with Dina and the crew, we decided to leave Vaneheimr.

Considering the reason for the seal to be placed in that location, there was nothing left for us to do at that place.

We were also orally informed of the locations of the other sealed [Ouroboroses] and the respective 12 Heavenly Stars from Parthenos. Therefore, if there was no other location to go in the future, we could give them a visit.

According to Parthenos, the reason for why it had to be given verbally was “because we don’t know where the Goddess is hiding.”

“Please take care, Ruphas-sama. The Goddess possesses a special power called [Avatar]. The Goddess will not move on her own. However, she has the ability to create a clone based on what she thinks is ideal and to incite people into doing what she wants to be done. In other words, you may believe some random villager to be an ordinary powerless individual, however that person may turn out to be the Goddess.”

That was what she said.

There were three locations the [Ouroboroses] were sealed.

Firstly, the location where the [Earth Ouroboros] was sealed was the underground world Helheim, also known as Hell.

One might recall that the Hell was Aigokeros’s birthplace. It was a high difficulty dungeon where a great number of devil-type monsters resided.

Although the truth was unknown, it was said that the souls of deceased evildoers also cycled back and reincarnated here. Nevertheless, it was undisputed truth that evil spirits sometimes appeared as enemies in Helheim.

This place was sealed by the [Bull] Taurus.

Next was [Fire Ouroboros]. This guy was sealed in the very far end of the South….. In what was currently serving as the domain of the demons; Eternal Burning land of Muspelheim.
The protector of this seal was Aquarius the [Water Bearer].

Aquarius was an important person who could wield water arcane magic, but it seemed it had been sent that way.

Well, fortunately, there was still Dina who would use water arcane magic.

Last on the list was [Wood Ouroboros]. The current residence of this guy was the land of the fairies, Alfheim.

It was a forest of light where the fairies came from. And in the game, there was nothing but fairies and spirits as enemies in that place.

And the one who sealed this place was Gemini of the [Twins].

Just as its name suggested, it was a strange star where two people served as one. Due to their existences, 12 Heavenly Stars had a dumb composition of having “13 individuals even though it’s called 12 Heavenly Stars”.

In any event, meeting up with them would have to wait.

There was no use for me to just casually show up in the sealed locations nor was there anything for me to do in those places. Additionally, it was not as if they were burdening people by being in those places.

For now, I was planning to find the other 12 Heavenly Stars who were in the domains of the humanoids.

Having said that, if I recalled correctly, Alfheim was still barely in the domain influenced by the humanoids, so I did not mind giving that place a short visit.

“I apologise, Ruphas-sama. In truth, I also want to go, but as you can see, I am already deceased. As such, I am no longer able to be of use to you.”

“It’s fine, do not worry about it. I appreciate your will and conviction on displaying your loyalty even after death.”

“Your kind words are too much for someone like me. However, please don’t worry. Although I can’t go personally, I will send Virgo after you in my stead.”

“Wha?”

Due to Parthenos’s remark, Virgo was taken back.

It seemed Parthenos had neither informed nor checked up with Virgo.

Oi Parthenos. Was it really alright to send her out without even saying anything to her?

“She’s still inexperienced, but I have taught her all the basic minimums that she needs to know. I’m sure she will be of some use to you.”

“Umm, grandma. I still don’t know anything…..”

“My grandchild, listen. I am not going to approve of you wanting to stay and live in these forests. Just go out and have a look around the world. Right now, it’s something important for you to do.”

“Ehhhhhh…………”

Parthenos pushed the unconvinced and unenthusiastic Virgo into Tanaka and decided things on her own.

Well yeah, it was not as if I did not appreciate her coming along.

Considering that Parthenos had already passed away, the new [Maiden] was required, and since she was already over level 300, she would be considered a very superior personnel by this age’s standard.

Furthermore, since she was not a demon, if she was nurtured properly, she could naturally reach level 1000, thus it was not a dream to say that she could potentially become the next 12 Heavenly Stars in the end.

If we continued to power-level her and leave the role of stopping the enemy to her, eventually she should reach a level cap.

Additionally, as she was a Flugel, she should know how to use divine magic like the back of her hand and should have a naturally high base stat. She could also fly.

Yeah, not bad at all.

“Well, it would be good if she is willing herself… Are you fine with it, Virgo?”

“Uuuuuuuuu…….. well, since grandma said stuff like that already, even if I try to stay behind in the forest, I’ll just get chased out….. So, pl, please take care of me from now on.”

And just like that, the second [Maiden], Virgo became our comrade and our travelling companion as we left Vanaheim behind.

The sight of Parthenos waving her hand from behind until the very moment we could no longer see her left a lasting impression.

I did not know what to say, but I supposed there really was those type of people that were energetic even after their deaths.

I guess it would be a good idea to come and visit her the next time I was in this area.