Overnight in the Forest

Momonga extended his fleshless, skeletal hand to stroke his jaw, showing no emotion toward the slaughter unfolding in the mirror.

Although he had no intention of intervening, Momonga continued to watch the massacre, missing no detail. This was not because he enjoyed such bloodshed, but because he was attempting to gauge the strength of the people in this world through the carnage.

Even though he was level one hundred, as he had told Mare, it was possible that the average person in this world was also level one hundred; if that were the case, the situation would be dire.

Therefore, refusing to save those who were dying was the correct choice; he had to be responsible for the NPCs his companions had created.

Momonga found another reason to console himself. Although the soldiers in the mirror did not look like level one hundred entities by any stretch of the imagination, perhaps it was simply because the villagers were of such low level that the soldiers' true strength remained unreflected.

Momonga switched the view, continuing to watch the villagers being slaughtered. One villager was held by the arms by two soldiers, and then his chest was pierced by a third soldier using a longsword.

As the blade was withdrawn, blood sprayed like a fountain, staining the soldier's armor. Momonga nodded, evaluating in his heart that these soldiers did not appear very strong.

Furthermore, the "Mirror of Remote Viewing," which could be easily blocked by low-tier anti-intelligence magic, had not suffered any interference thus far.

It seemed the opposition did not use magic, which meant there was no need to worry. No, that was a poor judgment; perhaps these were merely the enemy's low-level infantry, and their high-level combatants were either hidden or had yet to be deployed.

"How do you intend to proceed, My Lord?" Sebas asked, seeing that Momonga had been observing for some time.

"Do not intervene. They are not worth saving, and there is no profit to be gained," Momonga said without hesitation.

"Understood." Sebas nodded. He felt a flicker of disappointment, but as the command of a Supreme Being, he had to strictly obey.

After speaking, Momonga suddenly felt a sense of unease. He glanced at Sebas as if nothing were amiss, and on that silent, stern face, Momonga seemed to see Sebas's creator—his former companion, Touch Me.

"When you see injustice, you must draw your blade to help."

Momonga recalled what Touch Me had said to him when they first met.

In YGGDRASIL, because he was of a heteromorphic race, he had been hunted relentlessly by human players. Just as he was about to give up on YGGDRASIL, it was that act of chivalry from Touch Me that ultimately convinced him to stay.

"Sigh." Momonga let out a soft breath. "Regardless, I must confirm my combat capabilities in this world sooner or later... Sebas!"

"I am here, Momonga-sama." Sebas bowed.

"Raise the alert level of Nazarick to the maximum. I will head out first. Inform Albedo, who is on standby nearby, to come fully armed, but she is not to bring 'Abyss of Hell.' Also, prepare a backup force. Considering the possibility of an emergency that might prevent my retreat, dispatch several subordinates skilled in stealth or possessing invisibility to this village."

Momonga stood up and gave his instructions to Sebas one by one.

"Understood, Momonga-sama..."

Hades rubbed his eyes and awoke from his slumber. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time before pulling his gaze away, sitting up on the bed to survey his surroundings.

This was a room built entirely of packed earth, though "built" was not quite accurate, as this was an underground space Hades had excavated using magic.

After leaving the village and reaching the forest, Hades had let loose, testing his skills and spells one by one. The feedback he received left him brimming with excitement.

Whether it was the skills of a Warrior or the spells of a Magic Caster, he could cast them all without exception. He did not stop until the sky began to brighten.

Then, a wave of drowsiness washed over him. Although becoming an Undead could negate this fatigue, if he switched to his Human or Elf forms, the sleepiness would not vanish and would reclaim his body.

Hades surmised that the Seed of the World Tree did not carry over the passive effects of the Undead body to his other two racial forms; thus, when he consumed energy using those forms, he still needed sleep to recover.

YGGDRASIL had a fatigue system where a character in a fatigued state would suffer reduced attack power. Having arrived in reality, Hades did not know if fatigue would affect his attack power, but he truly felt the need for sleep.

Although there were accessories and rings in YGGDRASIL that could negate fatigue and hunger, Hades had never worn them, believing they were useless and occupied precious ring slots; he had left them in his personal guild storage. If he had such a ring now, it would have saved him some trouble.

Yet, no matter how he used his guild ring, he could not return to the guild base. Hades concluded there was only one possibility: the guild he belonged to had not been transported to reality along with him.

If that were the case, it explained why he could not contact the six companions who had been online before the transition; they had not been transported as he had.

Hades did not know whether to consider this lucky or unfortunate. While gaining all his YGGDRASIL abilities was a pleasant experience, he had also enjoyed a good life in his original world.

However, dwelling on such matters only added to his troubles; he would not be returning to his original world anytime soon.

While the Undead body was convenient, his Human form would fall into a state of fatigue if it did not rest, a sensation that was quite uncomfortable and required rest to recover.

However, Hades did not want to return to that village; he could not tolerate that livestock shed.

Fortunately, his Elf character possessed production classes, making it more than capable of crafting furniture, and his infinite inventory still contained plenty of materials.

But as he prepared to use the materials from his inventory to craft a bed, he suddenly realized that this was no longer a game world, and he did not know if those materials could be replenished here.

To be safe, Hades tried using the trees in the forest as substitute materials. The Item Crafter class did not seem to lose its effectiveness due to the change in materials, and he successfully crafted a single bed with magical properties.

Among his production classes was the Sage class, which allowed him to imbue items or equipment he crafted with buffs. He had originally feared that using materials from this world would render the Sage class's effects void.

The result left him quite satisfied. At the very least, he knew that the materials of this world were no different from those in YGGDRASIL. He only wondered if there were high-tier materials to be found; it seemed he would need to go searching for them in the future.

If he could replenish his materials, he would be able to craft all sorts of useful items.