Time passed swiftly, and before anyone realized it, a month and a half had quietly gone by.
During those days, which somehow felt both long and short, not a single unexpected incident or dangerous event occurred.
Everything proceeded smoothly and according to plan.
For Naohara, his daily life was remarkably uneventful.
Every morning, guided by a dragon's biological clock, he would naturally awaken from his sleep and begin the day as usual with a lavish all-dragon feast.
After breakfast, Naohara would usually head to the Ashurbanipal Library, where he supplemented his knowledge of Tier Magic while analyzing the principles of Catastrophe.
At the same time, he would use Wild Magic fueled by his own Dragon Soul to gradually subject the World-Class Item within his body to Erosion.
He would also use his own flesh and blood as nourishment to assimilate the Dragon Destruction Sword contained within him.
By midday, Naohara would decide what to do based on his mood and physical condition.
Sometimes, when the mood struck him, he would remain inside The Great Tomb of Nazarick and continue whatever he had been working on throughout the morning.
More often, however, he would return to his warm, comfortable room, settle into his soft bed, and enjoy a short nap.
As the warm afternoon sun began to sink toward the west, Naohara would change into lighter clothes and quietly leave Nazarick, heading into the Sorcerer Kingdom for an incognito visit.
He would wander leisurely through the bustling streets and alleys at his own pace.
Every so often, he would casually chat with NPCs hidden among the ordinary population, amusing himself with their conversations and adding a little variety to his otherwise uneventful life.
Half a month ago, the Magic Academy had gone on holiday.
His thought-form had already boarded a luxury cruise ship and was crossing the boundless ocean toward the Roble Holy Kingdom.
With the assistance of the Doctor of Truth profession, Momonga and Herohero had also successfully crossed the threshold separating Genius from Mediocrity.
They were now sorting through the changes within themselves and integrating everything they had gained so they could advance even further.
Seeing that even the Supreme Rulers were working so diligently, the NPCs naturally refused to fall behind and began following their example.
Some NPCs relied on enchantments placed upon their equipment and devoted themselves day and night to studying the profound and mysterious art of Wild Magic.
Others eagerly prepared themselves for battle in anticipation of the coming Planar War.
Every member of Nazarick had already been informed that they would soon be going to war against the Demon Plane.
The news was like a bomb dropped into a calm lake, instantly sending waves throughout Nazarick.
Rather than frightening the NPCs, however, it filled them with excitement and fighting spirit. One after another, they threw themselves wholeheartedly into the hectic preparations for war.
By now, the entirety of Nazarick was filled with feverish enthusiasm.
Perhaps because their long years of training and waiting were finally about to serve a purpose, nearly every member wore an unmistakable expression of eagerness for the coming war.
Even the ordinary maids, who normally handled routine household work, were no exception.
They were just as excited, their eyes shining with anticipation.
However, because they were bound to the Guild Weapon, the maids' data had already been fixed. No matter how hard they trained, there was very little room for their strength to improve.
Even so, their strong desire to better themselves was still worthy of praise.
As their leaders, Naohara and the other two never tried to discourage the ordinary maids. Instead, they often encouraged them.
The Pleiades and the other NPCs stationed throughout the various Floors were in much the same situation.
No matter how long they trained, they seemed unable to achieve any substantial breakthrough, as though they had reached a bottleneck that could not be overcome.
The underlying reason was actually quite simple. The Guild Weapon itself had a limit.
More precisely, the amount of data it could contain had already reached its maximum capacity.
If they wanted to break through their current limitations, the only solution was to comprehensively upgrade the Guild Weapon and expand its data storage capacity.
[Hmm. Another reason to invade the Demon Plane.]
That was Naohara's conclusion.
At night, he would usually visit the miniature world inside the Depiction of Nature and Society to check on the captive demons and inspect the condition of the Demon Gate.
Then, amid the noisy cries of "Dark Supreme One" and "Dark Turmoil," he would unleash a Petit-Catastrophe and harvest some experience points.
And with that, another productive day would come to an end.
Naohara was quite satisfied with his current routine.
Repeating the same things day after day might eventually become boring.
But given a dragon's immense lifespan and unique perception of time, it would probably take a very long time for that to happen.
Besides, in only another month and a half, Nazarick would launch its Planar War. That would surely be interesting.
Just thinking about it filled Naohara with anticipation.
Unfortunately, the unexpected had a habit of striking without warning.
The calm before the storm was often precisely when trouble was most likely to appear.
...
"Tsk, tsk. That's seriously painful to look at."
Reclining comfortably in his chair, Naohara flipped through the letter in his hands. It had not come from Zesshi Zetsumei, but from Keno.
Speaking of Zesshi Zetsumei, shortly after Naohara had replied to her previous letter, she had personally made a trip to the Sorcerer Kingdom.
She was more or less the same as before. Nothing had really changed.
After chatting with her for a while, Naohara opened a Gate and sent the woman whose mind seemed completely occupied with having children straight back to the Theocracy.
Keno's letter contained no earth-shattering news. It simply recounted, in a calm and leisurely manner, her trip to the seaside with Blue Roses, Mare, Aura, and the others.
Overall, the seaside trip had been quite entertaining.
Following the clues of an old legend, the group had set out in search of a mermaid, only to find a male merman instead.
The merman then told them the sorrowful story of his past.
Long ago, he had been a mighty Warrior. He had befriended a human, and the two had fought side by side through many battles.
During that time, the merman fell in love at first sight with the princess of his friend's kingdom, and the princess returned his feelings.
However, in that era, marriage between different races was an almost insurmountable obstacle.
Not wanting to place either his friend or the princess in a difficult position, the merman chose to exile himself to a deep underwater cave by the coast, cutting himself off from the outside world until the present day.
[Tsk. This is practically the New World version of Beauty and the Beast!]
Unfortunately, the merman never managed to find happiness with the princess, leaving the story with a deeply regrettable ending.
Keno had been so moved that she wrote the entire story down and sent it to Naohara.
She had also specifically chosen several swimsuit photos taken while everyone was enjoying themselves and included them in the envelope.
The two photographs that made Naohara complain about how painful they were to look at were both pictures of Gagaran in a swimsuit.
In the photos, Gagaran was wearing an absurdly revealing bikini. With her massive, muscular physique squeezed into such a tiny swimsuit, the result looked especially ridiculous.
In the background, Blue Roses, Aura, and the others could be seen applauding with painfully forced smiles.
[If I'm going to suffer, there's no reason I should suffer alone.]
Naohara shook his head. In the spirit of sharing, he immediately sent copies of the photos to Momonga and Herohero.
Once that was done, Naohara nodded in satisfaction, as though he had just completed an important mission.
He then picked up the book he had set aside, intending to continue passing the time.
Unfortunately, it did not last long. Before much time had passed, he gently set the book down again.
"Why do I keep having this strange feeling? Why am I so restless?"
Naohara frowned as he muttered to himself.
Intuition never arose without a reason, especially for a being of Catastrophe like him.
And now, that inexplicable unease was only growing stronger.
[Something related to me is happening, and I haven't noticed it at all.]
Naohara rose to his feet, preparing to do something.
But in the next instant, one rapid, piercing alert after another suddenly rang through his mind.
All kinds of signals flooded in at once.
The first was an emergency request for help from the Platinum Dragon Lord.
Immediately afterward came a warning signal from the Dragon Scales Naohara had left on the Platinum Dragon Lord's body.
Then came a distress Message from the White Dragon Lord.
Finally, even the thought-form Naohara himself had created sent him a distress signal!
Naohara could no longer remain calm.
"Something happened in the Roble Holy Kingdom?!"
He tried to establish a connection and respond, but no matter what he did, he could not get through.
He then attempted to use Wild Magic to teleport directly to the scene of the incident, only to meet with the same result.
The teleportation failed.
Naohara's expression instantly turned grim. Veins bulged on his forehead as he raised his head in shock and fury.
He gave a cold snort as a terrifying aura erupted from his body. In the next instant, his figure vanished like a flash of lightning.
High above, a colossal dragon stretching a full kilometer in length suddenly appeared.
Its enormous body blotted out the sky. Each beat of its wings unleashed violent gales that tore apart the surrounding clouds.
With a deafening roar, the dragon ripped through the sky and raced toward the Roble Holy Kingdom at astonishing speed.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, deep within the Theocracy, the Six Great Gods also turned their attention toward the Roble Holy Kingdom.
Naohara was not the only one who had noticed something was wrong.
The disturbance had lasted for only an instant, but there could be no mistake.
An immense amount of the Power of Faith was calling four of the Six Great Gods toward the Roble Holy Kingdom.