Tsukasa arrived at E-Rantel to rendezvous with Alice and the others, while Nigun parted ways with Tsukasa at the city gates.
By now, Nigun had already changed out of his original clothes. His aura was different from the Nigun of the past, and with his clothes and hairstyle changed, even someone Familiar with him wouldn't recognize him at first glance. Next, he would act alone to scout the Theocracy's movements. After learning the secrets of the so-called Astrea Family, Tsukasa knew the Theocracy would definitely not let her go easily. Furthermore, from Nigun's mouth, she finally learned why the Theocracy had suddenly begun their operations.
Although she didn't think a small figure of Nigun's level could know the entirety of the Theocracy's plan, the information he did have was likely true, which gave her a bit more understanding of the current world situation.
The Slane Theocracy's strength was great, but it didn't seem as invincible as she had initially thought.
Based on the intelligence from Nigun, the Slane Theocracy's base combat power hadn't actually surpassed the Empire's. After all, the upper limit of human potential was fixed and not so easily broken. However, the Theocracy possessed the bloodline of the six great gods; those known as God-kin had indeed surpassed human limits and stepped into the realm of heroes. That said, the strength of the God-kin was also quite limited. According to Nigun, in the information he knew, the only God-kin capable of fighting that Ainz Ooal Gown was a certain monster in the Theocracy.
Even for the Theocracy's strongest unit, The Black Scripture, if that monster wasn't among them, they likely wouldn't be a match for that Ainz Ooal Gown.
Because that monster's bloodline was incredibly abnormal; her mother was a half-blood of the six gods' descendants and a Sword Saint, and later her mother combined with the Elf King to give birth to that monster.
That monster perfectly inherited the power within those bloodlines. With Blessings, magic, and swordsmanship all reaching immeasurable levels, their strength even surpasses that of a Dragon Lord, making them the strongest Guardian of the Theocracy.
As for who is stronger between this monster of the Theocracy and Ainz Ooal Gown, Nigun's own strength was too low to truly analyze it, and he had never witnessed the full power of either. However, Nigun told Tsukasa with great certainty that the monster's bloodline was definitely inferior to the Master's.
This was because that monster only had one Blessing, and it was merely one that enhanced martial arts talent. As for magic, Nigun did not believe any Magic Caster stronger than the Master existed in this world. The magic the Master wielded far exceeded this world's magical system; and while the Elf Race of this world were indeed true elves, they held no comparison to a conceptual-level Fairy Race like Eidor.
Nigun stated confidently that the Master's strength surely far surpassed that mixed-blood of the Theocracy, and the only potential gap might be a matter of equipment.
He said with full confidence that he would find a way to seize the Theocracy's true—
—divine artifact. Once he did, the Master would not be weaker than the Theocracy in that regard. Although Tsukasa wasn't optimistic about Nigun's decision, she didn't care about the life or death of a cheap Familiar, so she let Nigun proceed. The current Nigun was stronger than before, having already stepped into the so-called realm of heroes.
Although a Shadow Demon cannot grow when first summoned, once it successfully possesses a host, it can break that limit. However, even if it can grow, it is still restricted by the talent of the possessed body. Nigun could at most break through to the Hero-class, and even then, he would be at the bottom tier because the talent of this body was fundamentally not high.
"An item capable of changing the world."
Nigun only knew that the Theocracy possessed one such true divine artifact, but even Nigun himself didn't believe the Theocracy had only one.
The effect of this true divine artifact was the forced enslavement of any target. While its essence was a charm effect, the artifact itself allowed the wearer to control the charmed subject. The Theocracy had even considered using it to control a Dragon Lord, which spoke volumes of its power. However, since it had never actually been used on a Dragon Lord, Tsukasa remained skeptical of its potency for now. Yet her follower Nigun was full of confidence, even saying that only the Master was worthy of such an item; if the Master's own charm was combined with the artifact's charm, they could charm not just a Dragon Lord, but even a true god. But since Shadow Demons were mindless sycophants toward their Master, Tsukasa took such words with a grain of salt and couldn't take them seriously.
Furthermore, she really didn't think Nigun had a way to obtain the item. It should be mentioned that the Theocracy seemingly referred to all non-human races above the Demon King level as 'Dragon Lords.' As for the Theocracy's reasoning, Tsukasa was too lazy to guess. If the Theocracy wanted to pick a fight with Dragon Lords, that was their business; she had no intention of causing trouble in this world. This world wasn't facing a crisis of extinction, and no one was forcing her forward. She only wanted to settle down, cultivate well, and enjoy herself. Dragon Lords, the Theocracy, Demon King... she'd let them fight among themselves as long as she wasn't dragged into it.
But obviously, she knew this was impossible to achieve. Even if she did nothing, her very existence was a threat in the eyes of many.
It was because the Astrea Family understood they were no match for the Theocracy that the first Emperor had the family establish those ancestral teachings: never interfere in the disputes of the human race. Even if the Empire was in trouble, they could only act if the Empire faced a life-or-death crisis of extinction. This was all for the Slane Theocracy's benefit; the Emperor used this method to show the Theocracy that they had no intention of using the Sword Saint's power to threaten the Theocracy's core status. However, subsequent events were enough to show that the Theocracy did not trust the Emperor's sincerity, as they still moved against the Astrea Family.
If not for the desire to avoid a complete fallout with the Empire,
the Theocracy would likely have wanted to wipe out the Astrea bloodline entirely. In fact, that is essentially what they did; now, only two of the Astrea bloodline remained in this world. One was the Guardian of the Theocracy, and the other was Tsukasa. If the previous Miss Astrea hadn't shown zero talent, some 'accident' would likely have occurred.
So Tsukasa understood clearly.
She could not stay out of it.
The Theocracy was her enemy.
That was certain.
"Equipment... I wonder if suitable materials can be found in the Empire's treasury. If I go back and ask the Emperor, he shouldn't refuse me, right?"
Tsukasa massaged the bridge of her nose with a slight headache. Although she knew Alchemy magic, creating equipment with Alchemy wasn't that easy; that required separate skills. Alchemy magic was used more for creating items and enchanting; she lacked blacksmithing-type skills.
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