Hill was hardly surprised to discover that the mages of this world were not truly ignorant, and that they were all quietly resisting within the limits of their abilities.
Asmodeus's calculations had indeed been correct: even if the mages knew something was wrong with this world, they would prioritize protecting themselves... even if a handful were willing to sacrifice themselves for ordinary people, this was not a world that heroes could save.
Heroes could arise among mortals because they had something stronger supporting them... whether gods or the masses. In truth, a hero merely represented the will to resist; he was only the one taking the lead.
A hero with no one following behind him would end up on the chopping block.
But by the same token, mages could keep a world from collapsing in an instant... they would try every possible means to hold out until the very last minute before fleeing.
Yet against an enemy as terrifying as the Lord of Hell, it was genuinely hard to say which was better for a newborn world like this.
Hill could not judge either. He could only sit bored in the basement, preparing steel plates: sooner or later, they would have to go to Sia Tower, so he needed to prepare a suitable carriage first.
For him, the most troublesome part was making it suitable.
Hilbert was extremely glad he had not casually pulled materials from his warehouse. When he had made Russell's ring, he had used materials from a meteorite he had grabbed while falling with the meteor shower.
Moreover, to show that the thing really had been around for quite some time, he had not refined it carefully. He had essentially used ore that had only been refined once.
What... a stroke of luck. That one casual round