Thirty Minutes Later.

Kashi's World.

BOOOM!!!

An earth-shattering explosion shook the dimension to its core, the resulting waves sending massive tsunamic waves onto the land. Cracks appeared in the sky as the very fabric of space and time weakened before the ungodly blast.

Far off above the ground, a being large enough to blot out the sky crashed into the sea, its body singed black, making it impossible to figure out its original shape or form.

Shortly after the colossal figure fell into the sea, two figures descended from the clouds and gazed upon the fallen beast with differing emotions. One of the figures, Drixali, glanced at the daeben who stood next to him, Kashi of the Hopeful Maggots, with a complicated expression.

It would be a lie if Drixali claimed there was no secret resentment over his forceful enslavement. Perhaps as a sign of mercy, Kashi did not wipe his memories when subduing the demon. As a result, the centaur retained his memories as a free spirit, unbeholden to anyone.

As a result, Drixlia was initially displeased with the reality of forever serving this daeben—especially when Kashi was so much weaker than him.

However, the battle against the blight completely changed his perception of the daeben. Kashi, this monster, was hiding so much power behind that harmless smile. After witnessing Kashi's true strength, Drixali found he could not gauge the daeben's potential.

Drixali firmly believed it was only a matter of time before this monster grew even stronger than himself. Hell, if the daeben kept up this momentum... Drixali flinched, as a dreadful thought passed through his mind.

Could he be witnessing the birth of another Razznik Y'Terlow?

Suddenly, Drixali did not find it so bad to be Kashi's servant. Perhaps in the future, it would be a position that was heavily sought after but could not be obtained anymore. Besides, being in Kashi's world was not so bad. Yggdrasil's life energy was beneficial to even a demon like himself. He could feel his old injuries, which had stumped his potential, slowly being loosened with each passing moment.

Heh, who knew how much stronger he would get in a few years? Drixali was confident that his life would never be the same as long as he stuck by the enigmatic daeben. Hence, he dematerialized his spear as he looked at Kashi and bowed his head, "The blight has been defeated. You are victorious, Master."

"Don't bother with the master stuff," Kashi replied, revealed a loose smile as he examined a prompt that had appeared after the blight's defeat. "Just Kashi is fine. You're much stronger than me, anyway. It'll feel awkward."

"As you wish, Kashi-dono," Drixali said.

"Well, I guess that's good enough for now," muttered Kashi as he let out an exasperated sigh. "More importantly, looks like taking this big guy down came with some added benefits."

High-tier lifeforms? Hmm... this was the first time Kashi was coming across this term. Even Razznik had not heard of creatures being graded into tiers. Sure, there were legendary and divine beasts, but those were more like title awarded to those creatures from mythical tales or those that came from higher dimensions. This type of ranking system was new to him. It seemed he would have to pay a visit to a library soon to clear up this puzzle.

The daeben switched focus to the window underneath, which asked him if he wanted to consume the blight or not. A more reasonable person might have hesitated, weighed the pros and cons, and whatnot, but Kashi, without any hesitation, chose 'YES.'

A massive gale blew past Kashi and smashed onto the fallen blight. The storm, which consisted of thousands of wind blades, cut the blight's massive body into tiny fragments the size of a fist. A tremendous suction force shot out of Yggdrasil, forcefully absorbing these fragments into its tree trunk.

Yggdrasil's leaves fervently trembled after the final fragment was absorbed. A tremendous change overcame Yggdrasil, as dark, thorny vines shot out of its trunk and slithered along the tree as if wishing to strangle Yggdrasil to death. However, a few moments later, the vines were once again absorbed into Yggdrasil.

Whooom!

Kashi shut his eyes as Yggdrasil exploded with a brilliant green light. When the light dimmed, Kashi was shocked to find that Yggdrasil had grown about 20 meters taller. Not only that, but he could see thousands of trees rising from the ground to create dense forests off in the horizon. This world, which once only consisted of grasslands, now boasted dense forests.

Kashi could also keenly feel the landmass increasing in size. It seemed that every time Yggdrasil grew, the landmass would follow suit. Until this moment, Yggdrasil slowly grew on its own, and Kashi had assumed that was the only way for it to expand. But it seemed that there were other methods to rapidly increase its growth.

Hmm... This was indeed an exciting find. However, Kashi pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he received a new announcement.

Kashi revealed a wide grin as he studied the prompt. It seemed it was true that life rewarded good people. The daeben could not wait to test out this ability and find out its full potential. The game also informed him of Yggdrassil's upgrade, stating that the earth element had been strengthened even further.

Kashi took a moment to take stock of the elements he had accumulated so far. The dragon gave him Fire, Yggdrasil brought Earth, the Hydras provided Water, and Kira provided Wind. This left Lightning and Metal as the only outstanding elements. The daeben initially wondered why the dragon provided fire, but he transformed into a lightning dragon.

However, it didn't take long for Kashi to brush off the issue. He couldn't care less as long as it did not negatively affect him.

Kashi examined the prompt and then turned to Drixali. With a pleasant smile, he proposed, "Are you interested in increasing your strength?"

If Miote were around, he would have warned Drixali to run away as far and fast as he could. That smile was a sure sign that Kashi was about to scam someone!

Drixali's brow rose. "Yes, Kashi-sama. Do you have something in mind?"

Kashi's grin widened as he proposed, "I need a god for my world. If you agree to take up the position, you will gain immeasurable power."

"You could order me, and I would do as you ask," Drixali stated with a confused frown. "Why would you ask for my consent?"

Kashi shrugged. "It's not in my nature to force people to do things they don't like. Every god in this world is here willingly." 'Well, except the hydra eggs. But, hey, they haven't been born yet, so they can't say yes or no. I can consider this planning the path for children before they are born. Nothing wrong with that.'

Drixali hesitated. "Are there any particular detriments I should know about?"

Kashi revealed a loose smile. "You are a cautious one, aren't you?" The daeben shrugged as he assured the centaur, "Nothing much. You won't be able to leave this realm willy-nilly. But apart from that, you pretty much have free reign. Within reason, of course."

Drixali gazed into the horizon, his eyes seeming to peer into another reality. "There's nothing for me in the other world. I will gladly stay and carry out your wish to become a god." The centaur looked at the daeben with a determined gaze. "What do I have to do?"

'Got him!' Kashi's eyes sparkled as he said, "Nothing. Just don't fight what comes next..."

Lymar Village

Following the explosion, no one dared approach Kashi's body. The daeben's ki and mana had madly fluctuated over the past thirty minutes. Sometimes it was calm; other times, nearly calamitous. The stone table Kashi had been resting on was pulverized to dust by the daeben's energy, leaving his body to float a few feet above the ground.

Shadow and the centaur chiefs did not leave the area for varying reasons, intent on waiting until the daeben either perished or awoke.

Whooosh!

Shadow's eyes twitched when Kashi's aura suddenly spiked. Despite being over twenty meters away, the assassin was forced to shield his eyes from the wind generated by the daeben's aura. Surprisingly, however, the torrential wind disappeared just as fast as it appeared.

"Kashi!" Shadow excitedly shouted as he saw the daeben weakly open his eyes.

"Huh?" Kashi muttered as he gazed at the open sky above him. 'Where am I?' However, before he could get his answer, the force that kept him afloat dissipated with the return of his consciousness.

Bam!

Kashi cursed and let out a small shout as the back of his head struck the ground. "Ouch!" The daeben complained as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He turned to his side and saw the centaurs looking at him with complicated expressions.

Kashi recognized the hidden hostility in their eyes, which made him feel a lot more comfortable. He didn't know what he would have done if he had awoken to adoring fans. The daeben knew what the centaurs were worried about, so he didn't waste any time before raising his fingers in a 'V.' "Do not worry. The blight has been taken care of. Your forest should return to normal."

"Are you serious!?" Balasius, unable to contain his excitement, galloped over to the daeben and grabbed his shoulders. "Is the blight gone!?"

Kashi winced as the general squeezed his shoulders. It seemed that in his excitement, the esteemed general had forgotten to control his strength. Kashi, however, did not react as he understood the general's feelings. He could not empathize completely, but he had seen enough situations like these to understand Balasius's reaction.

"Yes, Balasius-san, the blight is gone," Kashi confirmed. "If you give me enough time, I can ensure no traces of the blight remains in this forest."

"We are forever in your debt, Kashi-dono," Mando stated as he stepped forward and bowed.

Kashi's eyes twitched as he looked at the bowing centaur. Damn these freakishly tall centaurs. Even while bowing, Mando was still significantly taller than the daeben. It was quite the comical sight. "It is fine, Alshmeer-san. I did this of my own free will. There are no debts to be paid. Ah, except the situation with my horse. But that was a deal."

"Of course," Mando replied with a smile. "When would you like to hold the ritual?"

Kashi waved his hand. "The ritual can wait. More importantly, there is someone who wishes to meet you all."

"Wait!" Mando's eyes widened in shock as a terrifying possibility popped up. "You don't mean?"

Kashi grinned as he waved his hand. "Come out, Drixali."

Whooom!

A portal appeared at the center of the room, and the proud demon god emerged with a stern gaze. Something had fundamentally changed about the demon. His aura bristled with divine energy, not of this world. The demon's white fur had a soft, warm glow, and lightning sparked wherever he stepped. The demon's horn had doubled in length and curled in on itself. A mini-tempest raged within the cycles, declaring the demon's overwhelming strength.

Drixali glared at the gaping centaurs. His brows furrowed as he vehemently condemned, "You mortals dare stand in the presence of my master?"

VWOOOM!

A massive pressure burst out of Drixali and crushed down upon everyone within sight. The centaurs' blood boiled as they experienced an instinctual fear borne from generations of worship.

Drixali was none other than their god, and there was nothing mortals feared more than the gods' wrath—even more so when it was a god that they worshipped. The centaurs' legs buckled under the pressure and, unable to bear the weight, they knelt on the ground and prostrated, as if trying to make themselves as small as possible.

One person, however, remained standing amid the pressure. Shadow coldly glared at Drixali as he stood his ground. Blood leaked out of the corners of the assassin's mouth, but he otherwise did not show any signs of discomfort.

Drixali's gaze narrowed when he spotted Shadow. He took a step toward the assassin, eyes glowing as he warned, "You dare remain standi—"

"Give it up, Drixali," Kashi interrupted as he blocked the demon's path with an outstretched arm. "You are incapable of bending his will." The daeben released a sigh as he looked at the kneeling centaurs. "Also, could you release them? These are the leaders of proud warriors who just fought and bled to defend their homes and legacy. It's a disservice to the fallen to disgrace them so."

Drixali looked unconvinced but reluctantly released his pressure. Anyway, these centaurs were his worshippers in the end. He could not garner much animosity towards them. The only reason he exuded that pressure was to ingrain into the centaurs the fact that they must place Kashi above himself in their minds.

In other words, if the centaurs truly worshipped Drixali, then as his new master, they should in turn worship Kashi – or at the very least, treat his words as law.

Of course, Kashi was well aware of Drixali's thought process, which was why he did not immediately rebuke his actions. However, Kashi did not let the pressure last too long for two reasons.

First, it would reduce the chances of any animosity arising in the centaurs' hearts, and secondly, the centaurs would view him as a benevolent man who did not take advantage of the weak.

As to whether Kashi was truly such a benevolent man... Well, the truth was relative to the person being asked.

Shadow ignored Drixali and walked over to Kashi, cold eyes looking over the daeben, "Are you alright? You seem different."

"Sharp as always," Kashi complimented with a chuckle as he patted Shadow's shoulder. "I'm perfectly fine. Let's just say I got an unexpected boon."

"You and your secrets," remarked the assassin with an eye roll. Shadow then jerked his head in Drixali's direction. "So, what's the deal with him?"

"He's their god apparently," Kashi nonchalantly replied.

"Their god?" Shadow exclaimed as his neutral expression finally cracked. The young man stared at Kashi as if looking at some otherwordly monster. "You just said god, right? Why is a god working for you!?"

"Well, he's actually a demon, to be more precise," Kashi explained and then added with a puffed chest. "And, naturally, he's working for me 'cause I'm very persuasive."

Shadow ignored Kashi and sent a pitying glance Drixali's way. "I do not know what he did, but you have my condolences."

"Hey, Shadow!" Kashi protested, "Don't badmouth your guildmaster!"

"Thank you, Shadow-kun. I will make the best of my situation," Drixali responded with a slight bow.

"You. Don't badmouth your master!" Kashi scolded Drixali with a stern gaze, but the centaur demon only chuckled in response.

"Thank you for leaving my will intact, Kashi-sama," Drixali stated as he bowed once more to Kashi. Indeed, the only reason he could make such remarks was that Kashi did not have Yggdrasil completely wipe away his memories and personality. Aside from an unwavering loyalty to Kashi, every aspect of his personality remained intact. "I will work hard to repay this favor."

Kashi rubbed his chin. "Normally, I would tell you not to bother about the favor, but it so happens I do have some things I need your help to accomplish."

Drixali's eyes shone in expectation as he inquired, "What do you need?" He wanted to prove himself to Kashi as soon as possible. He did not doubt that shortly hundreds, if not thousands, would clamor for the chance to perform a favor for the daeben.

"There're two things," Kashi stated. "Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, I'm sure with the chiefs' help, you should be able to find a way to improve my stallion's bloodline. Secondly..." Kashi said the rest at a low volume, which only Drixali could hear.

"This much I can accomplish with ease," Drixali said with a defiant nod.

Kashi turned to look at the chiefs and shamans who were awkwardly standing off to the side, unsure whether to stay or leave. The daeben smiled and then bowed as he said, "Esteemed elders, I am eternally grateful for your aid in pulling me back from the dead. Unfortunately, I am unable to return your spear as it is now with its rightful owner."

"N-no-no-no, of course not," Mando quickly exclaimed, sweat pouring down his chest as he peeked at the silent Drixali. Demand the spear from their god? Were they courting death? But more importantly, what were they to do now?

The centaurs were much more vulnerable without Drixali's protection. Perhaps all those warring clans would come looking to harness the strength of the perfect cavalry unit. Mando calmed himself as he looked at Kashi and asked, "Kashi-sama, what do you will of us? We are now yours to command as you wish."

"-sama?" Kashi replied with startled shock. "I'm no sama. Call me Kashi like you have always done."

"We dare not, Kashi-sama!" Mando replied as he once again peeked at Drixali.

Kashi groaned, instantly understanding what was going on. Mando had heard Drixali address him as -sama and thus did not dare call him anything less. The daeben glared at Drixali and rebuked the demon, "See! This is what I was talking about. If you go around calling me sama, everyone will start doing the same. Just call me Kashi. There's nothing great about me to be called sama." Before Drixali could protest, Kashi added with a snide grin, "That's an order. You would not disobey an order, would you?"

Drixali's eyes twitched as he stared at the daeben. To think someone could be so petty and stubborn. Did the daeben not see the oxymoron in utilizing an order to force someone to regard him with less respect? However, Drixali could not disobey a direct order, so he bent his head and said, "As you wish, Master."

This time, it was Kashi's eyes that twitched. What a shrewd demon. To avoid calling Kashi by name, he reverted to Master. Kashi could not criticize him for that too. Well, at least Master was better than -sama. The daeben shrugged and then turned to Mando and the other elders. "There you have it. So, none of that -sama business, alright? I possess neither the beard, age nor wisdom for that address," he joked.

"More importantly," Kashi said as he led the way out of the ruins. "I would like to examine the effects of the battle if that is alright with you? How many casualties were there?"

The chiefs looked at Balasius, who walked up to Kashi's side with a nervous expression. "Collectively, we lost around seven hundred warriors, two thousand more are lightly injured, and about a thousand are heavily injured. We do not know how many of them will make it through."

Kashi's brows furrowed. "Where are the injured? Bring me to them. I might be able to offer some assistance."

Balasius shook his head. "I am afraid that even healing potions do not have much of an effect. Most of the wounds have been corrupted by the blight. Although it does not look like the infection is spreading, it has rendered all efforts to close the injuries useless."

"That's understandable," Kashi remarked. "The monsters were carrying blight that had been strengthened over several centuries. It's not surprising the corrosive effects are so strong." Kashi's words initially shook Balasius' core, but then he spotted the smile on the daeben's face as he said, "Rest assured, I will fix this mess. I do not need potions."

"What?"

"Just wait, and you'll see."

Balasius remained silent as he led Kashi over to the makeshift camp that housed the injured. On their way, they passed by the slope where the monsters still stood, as if transfixed in time. To Balasius' shock, Kashi suddenly froze in place and seemed to tremble, as if resonating with something. "Kashi-dono?"

Kashi looked past the general to the slope. He absent-mindedly walked to the centaur warriors who were keeping an eye on the monsters. The guards hesitated when Kashi walked past them, unsure whether to stop him or not. Fortunately, Balasius shook his head, giving them a way out. At least, this way, they could always say they were acting on their superiors' order.

Kashi, oblivious to the warriors' thoughts, walked down the slope until he was a few meters from the monster horde. The daeben then raised his hand, and to the absolute shock of the watching centaurs, the monsters collectively dropped to their knees.

Kashi revealed a bright grin as he clenched his fists. "Blight Emperor, huh. In that case..." Kashi looked at the monsters and ordered as a portal appeared in front of him, "All of you, get in here."

The centaurs stared, slack-jawed, as they watched the ferocious army they had shed blood and sweat to combat meekly walk into and disappear beyond a portal with nary a whimper.

Kashi gritted his teeth and urged the monsters to move quicker. As expected, making a portal this large was taxing even for him. He was not sure he could hold it for too long. Luckily, his order proved useful, and the monsters tripled their pace, allowing him to absorb all four thousand-ish into his inner world within ten minutes.

Sweat soaked Kashi's shirt as he closed the portal. That effort had sucked up most of his mana reserves. If it weren't for his rapid mana regen rate, he would not have lasted that long. Still, it was very tiring to hold the portal open that long. Unfortunately, Kashi knew he would have to do the same again very soon.

As luck would have it, Darian, Larsial, Agamios, and the other centaurs who had taken part in the siege on the headquarters reached the mountain base at that very moment, just in time to see the last few monsters enter Kashi's world.

While everyone struggled to come to grips with what they just witnessed, Kashi ascended the slope with a leisurely smile and said to Balasius, "Sorry for the delay. Please lead the way."

"Ah... yes," Balasius weakly muttered as he led Kashi to the injured camp.

Meanwhile, Shadow walked up next to Kashi and asked, "What was that just now?"

Kashi shrugged his shoulder as he replied, "Would you believe me if I told you I have a world in me?"

"So that's what it was," Shadow said without a sliver of doubt in his tone. "Stop putting weird stuff in your world. We won't always be around to save you."

"What?" Kashi blinked, not sure which fact stunned him more: that Shadow believed him, or that the assassin accurately guessed what had been causing Kashi's episodes the past couple of days. He looked at Shadow's serene gaze and could not resist patting the assassin's head. "Ah, that's who you are. Never change Shadow."

"What are you talking about now?" Shadow rebuffed with a snort. "Has all that sama gone to your head? You sound like an old hermit."

In response, Kashi rubbed his chin in mock thought. "Maybe so now that I think about it. I may not have the beard nor the age, but I'm definitely wise, right?"

"You've nearly killed yourself twice in less than a week," Shadow pointed out. "I do not think you can classify yourself as wise."

"Isn't it cause I knew you guys would save me?" Kashi protested. "I'm a wise ruler who trusts his friends."

"Friends... huh," Shadow repeated.

"What?"

"Nothing." Shadow shrugged. 'Never thought I'd hear you say those words.'

Before Kashi could pry further, Balasius called him up to tell him they had arrived.

Kashi's playful expression died down immediately he set foot into the camp. The heavy stench of blood mixed with despair soaked the air. The daeben looked around the camp at the centaurs who were on their sides, groaning in pain from varying injuries.

Some centaurs were lightly injured, suffering only a few scratches, but many had large sections of their bodies mangled by claws and teeth. Worse yet, because the wounds did not heal, these centaurs' eyes were colored with despair as they awaited their inevitable death.

Kashi did not waste any time coercing or laying traps with his words when he saw how dire the situation was. He immediately walked over to and then placed his hands on one of the more heavily injured centaurs.

Yggdrasil's aura leaked out of his hands and permeated the centaur's injuries. To the shock of the healers nearby, the wound began to close in front of their eyes. However, even with Kashi's healing, it still took over five minutes to get the centaur out of the danger zone.

Kashi looked at the hundreds of injured centaurs and shook his head. If he continued with this method, who knew how many would perish. He needed a more cost-effective process of healing these centaurs.

Luckily, he already had a solution.

Kashi looked at the healers and stated, "The energy I just used to heal him is from another dimension. I can only heal one at a time if I continue like this, but I doubt there's enough time to heal everyone. However, I have a solution if you trust me."

The centaurs' eyes sparkled with hope as they gazed at the daeben. Just from his act of healing that one centaur, they knew he was not lying.

"What do you propose?" a healer asked.

Kashi raised his hand, and a massive portal appeared in front of him. "This is a portal to the dimension with the healing aura. If you all go there, you can all be healed within minutes. But I can only hold it open for a couple of minutes, so you have to make your decision quick."

The centaurs hesitated. A dimension? Who knew where that went. Even though Kashi had not given them any reason to distrust him, it didn't mean he had earned their unequivocal trust either. Also, the centaur public was not yet aware of Kashi's relationship with their god, which reduced the reasons to trust him.

Surprisingly, however, Balasius suddenly shouted as he helped a heavily injured warrior to his feet. "What are you waiting for!? Those who can walk, help those who can't go in! You want to waste the opportunity our savior has given you!? Do you want our brothers to die in vain!?" With those words, Balasius walked into Kashi's dimension with the center without any hesitation.

The remaining centaurs were shocked, but one centaur who knew he would die in the next few minutes from blood loss struggled to his feet and stumbled into the portal. They say all it takes is one crack in a dam for the flood to come pouring in.

That centaur was the crack. A few more critically injured centaurs followed his lead or persuaded their friends and families to help them to go in. The others, noticing that Kashi was genuinely unable to hold on much longer, soon started flocking in, hoping to get healed, until Kashi finally collapsed thirty minutes later.

"Forty minutes. That's my limit," Kashi mused as he fell onto his backside. Panting heavily, he looked at his hand and said, "I won't be able to open the channel for a few hours."

Ping!

At that moment, however, Kashi suddenly received a prompt that would forever change the way he thought about his inner world.