"Glad to see everyone made it back okay. Nice work, Rion, that hammer is gonna be pretty useful, I'm impressed by the creativity you used to bring it here……the only question now, is who should it go to? Well, we can decide that later," I remarked, as I found myself back in Abyss along with the others.

  "If you don't mind, I'd like to suggest Rai! With his skills, it's a shame to let him stay at his current power level," Suggested Rion with a grin.

  Not a bad idea, and that's who I had in mind too……I won't say so right away though, don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm susceptible to favoritism.

  "We'll discuss it later, there's no rush. I caught glimpses of how the rest of you did while I was fighting Sant……and I have to say, Sparks and Cyclone, you two were very impressive, particularly your efficiency in dispatching your targets," I praised the two Dragons, genuinely impressed by how easily they both eliminated their targets.

  Most, if not all, of the Elves and Halflings that they fought likely had power levels of over 15,000, so they were far from weak, and with their numbers, should have been a formidable force.

  "Your words honor us, Lord Kuro, I shall continue to strive to meet and surpass your expectations," Replied Cyclone with a graceful bow.

  "I share that notion," Added Sparks, though he sounded kinda disinterested……which seemed to be his default mood, no matter what the situation.

  I then turned to Azeria and Fuo……

  "You two failed to kill your target, but you didn't do badly. It's just……you could've worked together a lot better than you did, just keep that in mind for next time, 'kay?" I remarked with a wry smile.

  "Yeah, okay," Replied Fuo, averting her gaze.

  "If you say so, I suppose," Shrugged Azeria with a grumble.

  "Some enthusiasm would be nice, but I'm not here to nitpick. Now, then, as for how my part went……well, I failed, Sant managed to escape before I could finish him off. But it wasn't a complete loss, I'm fairly certain that I managed to make him fear me, at least a little bit, I managed to kill one of his reindeer or whatever those creatures are, and most significantly……," I trailed off with a smirk, before continuing as the I piqued the others' interest, "……I managed to consume a fraction of his life force and divinity before he got away……and now, not only do I have enough Divine Magic to cast a couple of minor Divine spells, but……I can also use Clone Magic at no cost to my stamina, Mana or anything else. And I'm guessing that means that he can't use that particular form of Divine Magic freely anymore."

  Without a doubt, that fraction of a second where my claws pierced through Sant's skin was a massive game changer, I'm pretty sure I've gained a boost to my power level too. Now, then, what's the best way for me to use the Divine Magic I've acquired……?……

  "Yo, dude! What's up?" Greeted Rai, as he entered my room, along with Az and Key.

  While discussing my options with Diablo and Lazarus, I found out that Diablo was able to do something that I've been wanting to do for a long time……tranfer the Crosses I don't use to someone else.

  I should have realized he could do that, considering how adept he is at both physically and psychologically modifying a body. And so, I decided to call over Az, Rai and Key, after deciding which powers I didn't need anymore, to divide them up between the latter two of them and Persia. I called Az over for a different reason.

  To be honest, I was a bit hesitant with Key, considering her situation……but if she was the only one from my original group of friends that I excluded, that might look suspicious. Maybe I'm being paranoid and overthinking it, but hey, better safe than sorry, right?

  "What's this about, Kuro? I'm busy making improvements to the protective barrier spells, you know," Frowned Az, dark circles under his eyes.

  "First off, you need to get some sleep, dude. Never thought I'd say this to you of all people, but……you're working way too hard. And second, this won't take too long. I'll get straight to the point……Rai, Persia, Key, I've got the opportunity to give you three power ups. Want 'em?" I inquired with a smirk.

  "Yes!" Exclaimed Persia, before I'd even finished talking.

  "Hell yeah, I'm all for that!" Grinned Rai, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

  "I like the sound of that too, I have to admit," Added Key in agreement.

  "Great……well, I've got two Crosses that I don't need, one that's been redundant for a while, and another that's been made redundant today. As for the third power up……a little while ago, the Laus Domain attacked the Rustlands, and we took advantage of that by attacking some of the key players on either side. As a result, we managed to acquire another of the weapons that was wielded by one of Belia's summons, the Legendary Arms or whatever……specifically, the hammer that can absorb and discharge lightning. Now, then, who wants what?" I inquired, looking around at them with a grin.

  "I really want the hammer, but……Rai should get it, since he has the lowest power level out of the three of us……and, uh, also because he has Lightning Magic, so will probably be the most compatible with that weapon, of the three of us. Plus it isn't really compatible with my fighting style," Spoke up Persia, after a few seconds of uncertainty between the three of them.

  "Hey……! I feel insulted," Grumbled Rai with a pout.

  "I agree with Persia, the hammer should go to Rai," Said Key with a nod.

  "Well, you heard them……head over to the throne room, Rion's there, making sure no one accidentally touches the hammer," I informed him.

  "Well, I'm still a bit salty, but I'd be stupid to refuse, so……I'll go there right away!" Declared Rai, getting over his grumpiness as the excitement of getting a significant power up took over.

  And with that, he rushed out, struggling to contain his giddiness as he shut the door and ran down the hallway in the direction of the throne room.

  "So, why am I here, exactly?" Inquired Az with a frown.

  "Well, it's about the protective barriers, actually……Sant was able to break past the protective barriers surrounding the Rustlands, so we need to improve our barriers. I've got a bit of Divine Magic at my disposal right now, figured we could use it to put up an extra complex barrier, or add complexity to the current barriers, Diablo and Lazarus can help too. That's what I called you here for," I explained.

  "Oh……in that case, come to that meeting hall at the end of the corridor once you're done with this, that's where I'm working right now. I don't have time to just stand around and wait," He sighed, before turning around and walking away.

  "Ooo……kay. Well, anyway……," I remarked, turning to Persia and Key, "How do you two want to decide who gets which Cross?"

  "Which ones are you giving away?" Asked Persia curiously.

  Oh, right, I hadn't really given them any details……

  "Right, I'll also give you the basic information regarding the Crosses. First, Quintuple, which creates upto five copies, but also divides your power evenly throughout the copies, so the more copies you make, the more your power is divided. Also, if you don't rejoin with the clone after five minutes, the clone will start to become self-aware and become harder and harder to control……I made sure to avoid that whenever I used that Cross. And the second Cross is Stagnate……make eye contact with your target within ten meters and they'll be paralyzed for about twenty seconds," I explained.

  "Hm……those both sound really useful," Remarked Key with a gleam in her eyes.

  "Yeah, wish I didn't have to pick……but I think I'd go with Quintuple, if that's okay with you, Key," Said Persia, after mulling it over.

  "Oh, that's perfect, I was leaning more towards Stagnate anyway……Quintuple sounds like it has a lot of weaknesses," Responded Key.

  "Alright, then it's decided. Oh, by the way Key, this might give you a Vampire Mode type transformation," I informed her.

  "Wait, does that mean that this will weaken you?" Asked Persia with a look of concern.

  That was pretty sharp, I'm so proud of her……

  "Well, yes, it will……but I can use a portion of the Divine Magic I acquired to cancel out the reduction in power. The amount of Divine Magic that goes to the protective barriers will be a pretty small amount, I'll use the rest to power myself up……if my estimates are correct, by the end of it, I should be a small bit stronger than I currently am, so it all works out," I explained, before suggesting, "Now then, let's get started, shall we?"

  I then began transferring my Crosses to them, along with the corresponding Vampire life force, weakening myself by a small amount. Transferring Quintuple to Persia was pretty easy since her body had already adapted to Vampire life force, but Key's transfer was a bit more tricky.

  I managed to find a shortcut though, by combining the Vampire life force with the Demonic element in her……to put it simply, her Demonic third eye opening and Vampire Mode transformation will both occur simultaneously. Her Retractable Anima transformation is separate though, so if she combines both those transformations, she'll be seriously powerful.

  "I missed this feeling, forgot how good it feels!" Grinned Persia, opening and closing her fists a couple of times.

  "Yeah, this feels incredible……just how much stronger am I now?" Remarked Key in bemusement.

  "Well……why don't we find out?" I suggested with a grin, as I took out my power level-reading glasses……yeah, I really need to think of a proper name for these things……

  _____________________________________________

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