What is the essence of Catastrophe?
It is misfortune. It is a curse. It is resentment. It is the antithesis of all things, yet also an indispensable part of the world's existence.
It fills the world with endless impermanence and uncertainty, causing all living beings to rise and fall upon the turbulent waves of fate.
Through the unique perspective of a Genius, inspiration surged into Naohara's mind like a raging tide.
It shone within his thoughts like dazzling stars, casting a strange brilliance.
Like a razor-sharp blade, it cut through what had once been a hazy understanding and brought everything into perfect clarity.
The forms Catastrophe could take extended far beyond direct methods of inflicting harm.
It could silently cause an illness to suddenly worsen, lead a living being to unknowingly commit various acts of self-harm, or even cause an ally's attack to strike them instead.
What made Catastrophe truly terrifying was its ability to turn every seemingly coincidental event into an inevitable outcome.
A meteor that should have remained impossibly distant in the sky could, under the influence of various mysterious factors, begin to deviate from its original trajectory.
As though guided by the hand of fate, it would slowly descend toward the ground until, by what appeared to be sheer coincidence, it struck its target with perfect accuracy.
The torrent of Catastrophe was like an endlessly surging river, omnipresent and all-pervasive.
No matter where one went, there was no escaping its reach.
Trace its origins, peer into its secrets, and uncover its essence.
This was...
"The Principle of Catastrophe~"
Seated upon the throne, Naohara slowly opened his eyes and murmured softly.
With practiced ease, he opened his status panel.
Compared to before, he could clearly feel that he had undergone yet another period of growth.
Name: Naohara
Race:
Young Dragonling LV10 (Genius)
Young Dragon LV10 (Genius)
Adult Dragon LV10 (Genius)
Ancient Dragon LV10 (Genius)
Primordial Dragon LV5 (Genius)
Extreme Demigod Dragon LV5 (Genius)
Dragon Feast LV1 (Genius)
Classes:
Sword Saint LV10 (Genius)
Dragon Magic Caster LV10 (Genius)
Catastrophe Dominator LV8 (Genius)
Wild Magic Caster LV5 (Genius)
World Connector LV5 (Genius)
Dragonslayer LV5 (Genius)
Overed Dragon LV5 (Genius)
Principle of Catastrophe LV5 (Genius)
Titles: World Favored One, Original Sin Devourer
Level: 100+4 (Race Level + Class Level + Bonus Levels)
Karma: -1000
It was not only the concept of Catastrophe.
Dragons, Tier Magic, Wild Magic, World Linking, the sword... the concepts behind all his classes were being strengthened.
His knowledge was expanding, and the power that had seemingly stagnated for so long was finally undergoing explosive growth once again.
His upper limit was rising.
This was... an entirely new evolution~
"Original... Original..."
A slightly worried voice sounded beside him.
Naohara pulled his thoughts back, looked at the manifestation of his own thoughts standing before him, and gave a slight nod.
"How are you feeling now?"
Seeing that he was fine, Naraku breathed a sigh of relief.
His own life was tied to the Original's. If something happened to Naraku, that was one thing, but if something happened to the Original, there would be real trouble.
After all, the difference between a Genius and a madman could come down to a single thought.
He did not think they would be unlucky enough for that to happen, but he still could not help worrying.
"I feel great. Better than ever!"
"The world has become clearer before my eyes. I can feel the existence known as the Principle of Catastrophe, and I can touch it."
Naohara extended a hand and lightly tapped the empty air in Naraku's direction.
Before Naraku could react, a bone-chilling sensation swept through him. Every cell in his body trembled in terror.
Through the perception granted by his [Ruler of Wisdom] class, it felt as though the entire world had turned against him in an instant, with an endless tide of profound malice surging toward him.
The sensation did not last long.
The next moment, everything returned to normal as though nothing had happened.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Drops of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
Naraku instinctively caught the sweat, his eyes still filled with lingering fear.
"How was that for a firsthand experience? That is the Principle of Catastrophe, one of the fundamental laws by which the world operates."
As Naohara explained, he cast [Time Reverse] to help the manifestation of his thoughts recover his composure.
Mark of the Catastrophe.
As long as Naohara wished it, he could mobilize the world's malice and plunge a living being into all kinds of misfortune, subjecting them to repeated Catastrophes.
The mark would persist until the marked target died.
"Isn't that way too much of a cheat?"
"No. This power isn't actually lethal."
"The Principle of Catastrophe can manipulate the world's malice. Under its effects, even something like rain can cause tremendous harm, but that's only against the weak. Against truly powerful beings, its effect becomes much smaller."
"After all, very few things within the world itself are capable of threatening beings at that level. Wild Magic and World-Class Items can also block the Principle of Catastrophe's lock-on."
Naohara estimated that if a World Boss were used as the benchmark, the Principle of Catastrophe would likely be almost completely ineffective.
At most, it might make the target slightly unlucky.
That was not the limit of the Principle of Catastrophe.
It was the limit of the world itself.
"The most useful effect of the Principle of Catastrophe for me is probably its ability to further amplify the power of Catastrophe Magic."
Using the world's Catastrophe to empower himself.
Hmm... in a way, it was rather similar to the faith system of the Six Great Gods.
"Hey, hey, that's still ridiculously overpowered, okay?"
Naraku could not help but retort.
Just listen to him. What kind of pretentious humblebrag was that?
"Haha, I never expected that strange idea from back then to produce such huge returns."
"Doctor of Truth. A doctor who teaches mediocrities to cross the threshold into Genius. What an incredible class."
"By the way, how much experience did it take in total to transform all my classes into Genius versions?"
Naohara could not help but marvel at it.
The Doctor of Truth class was extremely useful. It could easily allow the entirety of Nazarick to benefit once again.
After three years of accumulation, every member of Nazarick had Rune Characters and Wild Magic inscribed onto their equipment, giving them a major boost in strength.
Most of the NPCs were currently studying the Wild Magic spell [Cocooning].
The weaker the target, the more pronounced its effect.
Using Demon Souls as fuel, some NPCs had even undergone three molts already.
Unfortunately, the cost was rather high.
Demon production was starting to fall behind demand. They needed to find a way to improve efficiency.
"About 120 levels' worth of experience."
"I wouldn't recommend using it on a large scale. The cost is too high."
Becoming a Genius was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
There were two ways to become a Genius.
The first was through instruction, allowing someone to comprehend it for themselves and become a Genius.
The problem was that neither of them had the slightest idea how to teach that.
It might have been manageable in a game, but in the real world, there was simply no practical way to do it.
At first, Naohara and Naraku had tried it anyway, hoping they might get lucky.
The results were negligible. Or rather, there were no results at all.
Naraku had even mocked Naohara at the time for being hopelessly stupid and mediocre, only to get punched straight into the ceiling.
Afterward, the two abandoned that method and chose a much simpler approach instead.
Spend experience points and turn someone into a Genius through a crash course.
From the perspective of the law of conservation of energy, it was perfectly reasonable.
Adding the Genius suffix to a class was essentially the same as obtaining a certification. You could simply pay to lower the difficulty and get it done immediately.
Doctor of Truth was still a doctor, after all. And if he was a doctor, charging a fee was perfectly normal, right?
Besides, the class itself would feed the relevant knowledge back to the user.
Become a Genius → Obtain a Class ×
Obtain a Class → Become a Genius √
By that logic, there was nothing wrong with getting on the train first and buying the ticket afterward.
"That really is troublesome. The Caloric Stones urgently need experience as well, and the Guild Scepter... that experiment can't be delayed any longer."
"For now, let's limit it to Momonga and Blackie. We can leave the other NPCs aside for the time being."
Naohara thought for a moment before making his decision.
There were simply too many uses for experience points.
Not enough. Nowhere near enough.
He had to find some way to increase Demon production.
It was also time to put that plan into motion. With the World-Class Item he had obtained a year ago, the final hidden danger had already disappeared.
"Fine, but I'll need to rest for a while. The skill's cooldown is about half a month."
Naraku nodded and added an explanation.
Special skills all had cooldown periods. Momonga's The Goal of All Life Is Death was one such example.
However, as Naraku grew stronger, that cooldown was steadily becoming shorter.
"Mm. Thanks for the hard work. Though since you're me, saying that somehow feels strange."
If you know it's strange, then why say it?
Naraku rolled his eyes.
"In that case, I assume you know what I'm about to say."
"I don't mind giving you human blood. I can understand Arche, but why do you want to give some to that girl named Neia?"
Naohara rubbed his chin as he asked.
"For the same reason you had with Clementine back then. Besides, her father asked me to be her friend for life."
"Friends for life, huh..."
Naohara pondered for a moment.
Two golden drops of blood emerged from his palm, then flew into Naraku's hand.
"Go on. Enjoy your school life. As my past self, experience a life completely different from mine."
He waved a hand in farewell.
Once Naraku had left, Naohara withdrew his gaze, stood up, and turned his attention inward.
Within the embrace of [Erosion], a tombstone floated inside him.
Wrapped in flesh and blood, a blade was slowly being assimilated.
[Almost there...]
The gains from this Genius experiment were far greater than he had let on.
Power really was intoxicating.
"What are you thinking about?"
A soft sensation pressed against his back, followed by a gentle whisper beside his ear.
Naohara turned his head and saw the petite Vampire.
Looking at the figure clinging to his back, Naohara smiled and shook his head.
"Nothing."
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