Reincarnated Hero System

‘Geass. A restriction in exchange for a benefit.’

Evan frowned slightly as the thought of one particular Oathkeeper crossed his mind, someone who doubled as one of his greatest enemies.

‘That damn bastard Ferrid.’

The First Finger and Leader of the Demonic Hand.

As he sat down, Evan pushed those thoughts aside and focused on Nemain seated across from him, prioritising the request he had for the Ouroboros rather than dwelling on thoughts of the First Finger.

“I have to get back to the surface as quickly as possible so I can properly handle the aftermath of what just happened, so I cannot stay here too long.”

When Evan said this, Nemain glanced upward lightly, as if toward the distant surface of the ocean, and then asked, “Should I send some of my subordinates to assist with handling the remaining aquatic monsters from the dungeon?”

Evan shook his head.

“No. Let the surface dwellers handle that. The more they kill, the more EXP they gain, the stronger they become, and the more powerful combatants we’ll have in preparation for the inevitable invasion from Gozon.”

Hearing this, Nemain nodded lightly before raising a hand, and at the same moment, all the gazes that had been locked on them from the dark corners of the hall vanished.

Evan glanced around for a moment, then muttered, “Sea dragons, huh?”

Nemain did not reside in this ruined city alone. He had dragon subordinates here, not just dragons but other aquatic creatures as well, though the majority were sea dragons, thousands of which lived within the underwater city alongside Nemain.

The Ouroboros nodded slightly at Evan’s mutter before asking, “So, leader of the Seven Heroes, what brings you to the ocean floor?”

“I have a request,” Evan replied, going straight to the point.

“You know of Altrishia’s islands, right?”

“Are you referring to the group of islands in the south that Gorm’s daughter decided to claim for herself?” Nemain responded. “Yes, I know of them.”

Dragon Lord Altrishia, the oldest of the planet’s current Transcendents, and now the third highest-levelled individual on Aidos, following Kolvar becoming an Intermediate Transcendent after killing Kriemler in Tarse last September.

Although she ruled the Dragon Empire of the Dark Continent, she rarely stayed there and instead left governance to the Ancient and Elder Dragons of the continent.

Then again, she had only established the Dragon Empire out of the necessity for a powerful force to watch over the seal on the Dark Continent’s Dimensional Rift.

She spent most of her time on the islands of the Divider Ocean, which she had claimed for herself, occasionally travelling from there to the Alpha or Beta continents whenever she required something from either landmass.

Nemain was fully aware of the existence of those islands and Altrishia’s presence there, and he wondered what Evan intended to discuss regarding them.

“Some of this planet’s ‘World Enemies’, the organisation calling themselves the Demonic Hand, intend to steal something from Altrishia.”

The words Evan spoke made Nemain’s expression turn incredulous.

“Steal from her? Have they finally gone mad?”

Evan laughed lightly.

“Don’t worry, they’ve been mad since the beginning. But let me finish. What they intend to steal is what I regard as Altrishia’s most prized possession. It’s something you’re aware of as well.”

At this, Nemain’s expression shifted from incredulous to slightly confused.

“I am aware of her most prized possession? I’m afraid Gorm’s daughter and I are not close enough for her to inform me of the existence of her most prized possession.”

That was the truth.

The Ouroboros Dragon family of the Iremiths and the Dragon Empire of the Dark Continent, which Altrishia ruled, were aware of each other but had very few interactions.

The one who communicated with them the most was Hydran, the current head of the Iremith family, and even Hydran had not spoken with them for years.

It was only natural that Nemain, who isolated himself at the bottom of the ocean, was even less acquainted with them.

“Well, contrary to what you might assume, you do know of Altrishia’s most prized possession. At the very least, the most important thing she keeps on those islands. And if that thing is the target of theft by the Demonic Hand, you will notice, and you will attempt to intervene.”

Now, Nemain grew even more confused because he couldn’t think of any possession belonging to Altrishia that would compel him to leave the bottom of the ocean and cross half the Divider Ocean just to prevent the Demonic Hand from stealing it.

While he was curious about what the Demonic Hand intended to take from Altrishia, he did not consider himself so righteous that he would abandon his post simply to protect one of her possessions.

The man remained silent for several seconds before finally shaking his head.

“I can’t think of anything.”

“You really can’t? I mean, it’s only been twice, but you have mentioned what that thing is during this conversation of ours.”

Nemain blinked at Evan’s words.

‘I’ve mentioned it twice?’

The man lowered his head and began to think, replaying the past few minutes in his mind, trying to recall what he had mentioned twice that he knew existed on Altrishia’s islands and that he would attempt to defend if the Demonic Hand tried to take it.

It didn’t take more than a minute for him to arrive at the answer, and that answer made his mood turn sour.

“Hero Evan, I am told that you are someone who enjoys joking quite a lot.”

To this, Evan replied in a dead calm voice, “Believe me, Nemain, I would love to be joking right now.”

Nemain slowly raised his head, his gaze darkening as he spoke.

“Those bastards want to steal that?”

“Yes,” Evan nodded. “They intend to steal it while Altrishia is away. Their plan is to create a disturbance in the Dragon Empire that will draw her attention back to it.

They will attempt to break into the restricted area where the seal on the Dimensional Rift is located, which would certainly make Altrishia return. While she is occupied there, they intend to take that.

With your senses, you can detect when something of that level of magical power begins to move, and you will undoubtedly try to stop them from stealing it.

This brings me to my request to you.”

Evan lowered his eyes to his hands on the table, silently clenching his fists before relaxing them again as he looked back up at Nemain.

“Let them steal it.”

The entire hall fell silent after Evan spoke.

He and Nemain stared at each other for several seconds before Nemain finally broke the silence.

“Explain yourself.”

The man remained calm, the kind of calm that came from years of experience, which was why he did not erupt in anger over what Evan had just asked of him.

“Worry not, I was going to do so,” Evan replied.

“Due to circumstances I cannot explain to you, I am aware of a large portion of the plans the Demonic Hand intends to carry out in their attempts to manipulate the World Formation and break open the dimensional rift on the Dark Continent.

One of those plans involves that item, and they cannot gain possession of it without stealing it from Altrishia.”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“You will attempt to defend that item. The problem is that if you do try to defend it, the leader of the Demonic Hand, Ferrid, would not hesitate to send his strongest combat asset after you.”

The moment Evan said this, Nemain raised a hand to stop him.

“Hold on a moment. Ferrid is the leader of the Demonic Hand?”

Evan nodded silently.

“I’m sorry, but WHAT?”