Thirty Minutes Later...

Kashi's World.

BOOOM!!!

An earth-shattering explosion shook the dimension to its core, the resulting waves sending massive tsunamic waves onto the land. Cracks appeared in the sky, as the very fabric of space and time weakened before the ungodly blast. Far off above the ground, a being large enough to blot out the sky crashed into the sea, its body singed black, making it impossible to figure out its original shape or form.

Shortly after the colossal figure fell into the sea, two figures descended from the clouds and gazed upon the fallen beast with differing emotions. One of the figures, Drixali glanced at the daeben who stood next to him, Kashi of the Hopeful Maggots, with a complicated expression.

It would be a lie if Drixali claimed there was no secret resentment over his forceful enslavement. Perhaps as a sign of mercy, Kashi did not wipe his memories when subduing the demon. As a result, the centaur retained the memories of his life as a free spirit, unbeholden to anyone. As a result, Drixlia, initially, was not pleased with the reality of forever serving this daeben – especially, when Kashi was so much weaker than him.

However, the battle against the blight completely changed his perception of the daeben. Kashi, this monster, was hiding so much power behind that harmless smile. After witnessing Kashi's true strength, Drixali found he could not gauge the daeben's potential.

Drixali firmly believed it was only a matter of time before this monster grew even stronger than himself. Hell, if the daeben kept up this momentum... Drixali flinched as a dreadful thought passed through his mind.

Could he be witnessing the birth of another Razznik Y'Terlow?

Suddenly, Drixali did not find it so bad to be Kashi's servant. Perhaps in future, it would be a position that was heavily sought after but could not be obtained anymore. Besides, being in Kashi's world was not so bad. Yggdrasil's life energy was beneficial to even a demon like himself. He could feel his old injuries which had stumped his potential, slowly being loosened with each passing moment.

Heh, who knew how much stronger he would get in a few years? Drixali was confident that his life would never be the same as long as he stuck by the enigmatic daeben. Hence, he dematerialized his spear, as he looked at Kashi and bowed his head, "The blight has been defeated. You are victorious, master."

"Don't bother with the master stuff," Kashi replied, revealed a loose smile as he examined a prompt that had appeared after the Blight's defeat. "Just Kashi is fine. You're much stronger than me, anyway. It'll feel awkward."

"As you wish, Kashi-dono," Drixali said.

"Well, I guess that's good enough for now," muttered Kashi as he let out an exasperated sigh. "More importantly, looks like taking this big guy down came with some added benefits."

High-tier lifeforms? Hmm... this was the first time Kashi was coming across this term. Even Razznik had not heard of creatures being graded into tiers. Sure, there were legendary and divine beasts, but those were more like title awarded to those creatures from mythical tales or those that came from higher dimensions. This type of ranking system was new to him. It seemed he would have to pay a visit to a library soon to clear up this puzzle.

The daeben switched focus to the window underneath which asked him if he wanted to consume the Blight or not. A more reasonable person might have hesitated, weighed the pros and cons, and whatnot, but Kashi, without any hesitation, chose 'YES.'

A massive gale blew past Kashi and smashed onto the fallen blight. The storm, which consisted of thousands of wind blades, cut the blight's massive body into tiny fragments the size of a fist. A tremendous suction force shot out of Yggdrasil, forcefully absorbing these fragments into its tree trunk.

Yggdrasil's leaves fervently trembled after the final fragment was absorbed. A tremendous change overcame Yggdrasil, as dark, thorny vines shot out of its trunk and slithered along the tree as if wishing to strangle Yggdrasil to death. However, a few moments, later, the vines were once again absorbed into Yggdrasil.

Whooom!

Kashi shut his eyes as Yggdrasil exploded with a brilliant green light. When the light dimmed, Kashi was shocked to find that Yggdrasil had grown about 20 meters taller. Not only that, but he could see thousands of trees rising from the ground to create dense forests off in the horizon. This world, which once only consisted of grasslands, now boasted dense forests.

Kashi could also keenly feel the land mass increasing in size. It seemed every time Yggdrasil grew, the land mass would follow suit. Until this moment, Yggdrasil slowly grew on its own, and Kashi had assumed that was the only way for it to expand. But it seemed that there were other methods to rapidly increase its growth.

Hmm... This was indeed an exciting find. Kashi, however, pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he received a new announcement.

Kashi revealed a wide grin as he studied the prompt. It seemed it was true that life rewarded good people. The daeben could not wait to test out this ability and find out its full potential. The game also informed him of Yggdrassil's upgrade, stating that the earth element had been strengthened even further.

Kashi took a moment to take stock of the elements he had accumulated so far. The dragon gave him Fire, Yggdrasil brought Earth, the Hydras provided Water, and Kira provided Wind. This left Lightning and Metal as the only outstanding elements. The daeben initially wondered why the dragon provided fire, but he transformed into a lightning dragon.

However, it didn't take long for Kashi to brush off the issue. He couldn't care less as long as it did not negatively affect him.

Kashi examined the prompt and then turned to Drixali. With a pleasant smile, he proposed, "Are you interested in increasing your strength?"

If Miote were around, he would have warned Drixali to run away as far and fast as he could. That smile was a sure sign that Kashi was about to heavily scam someone.

Drixali's brow rose. "Yes, Kashi-sama. Do you have something in mind?"

Kashi's grin widened as he proposed, "I need a god for my world. If you agree to take up the position, you will gain immeasurable power."

"You could order me, and I would do as you ask," Drixali stated with a confused frown. "Why would you ask for my consent?"

Kashi shrugged. "It's not in my nature to force people to do things they don't like. Every god in this world is here willingly." 'Well, except the hydra eggs. But, hey, they haven't been born yet, so they can't say yes or no. I can consider this planning the path for children before they are born. Nothing wrong with that.'

Drixali hesitated. "Are there any particular detriments I should know about?"

Kashi revealed a loose smile. "You are a cautious one, aren't you?" The daeben shrugged as he assured the centaur, "Nothing much. You won't be able to leave this realm willy-nilly, but apart from that, you pretty much have free reign in this world. Within reason of course."

Drixali gazed into the horizon, his eyes seeming to peer into another reality. "There's nothing for me in the other world. I will gladly stay and carry out your wish to become a god." The centaur looked at the daeben with a determined gaze. "What do I have to do?"

'Got him!' Kashi's eyes sparkled as he said, "Nothing. Just don't fight what comes next..."

Lymar Village

Following the explosion, no one dared approach Kashi's body. The daeben's ki and mana had madly fluctuated over the past thirty minutes. Sometimes it was calm, other times, nearly calamitous. The stone table Kashi had been resting on had been pulverized to dust by the daeben's energy, leaving his body to float a few feet above the ground.

Shadow and the centaur chiefs, for varying reasons, did not leave the area, however, intent on waiting until the daeben either perished or awoke.

Whooosh!

Shadow's eyes twitched when Kashi's aura suddenly spiked. Despite being over twenty meters away, the assassin was forced to shield his eyes from the wind generated by the daeben's aura. Surprisingly, however, the torrential wind disappeared just as fast as it appeared.

"Kashi!" Shadow excitedly shouted as he saw the daeben weakly open his eyes.

"Huh?" Kashi muttered as he gazed at the open sky above him. 'Where am I?' However, before he could get his answer, the force that kept him afloat dissipated with the return of his consciousness.

Bam!

Kashi cursed and let out a small shout as the back of his head struck the ground. "Ouch!" The daeben complained as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He turned to his side and saw the centaurs looking at him with complicated expressions.

Kashi recognized the hidden hostility in their eyes, which made him feel a lot more comfortable. He didn't know what he would have done if he had awoken to adoring fans. The daeben knew what the centaurs were worried about, so he didn't waste any time before raising his fingers in a 'V.' "Do not worry. The Blight has been taken care of. Your forest should return to normal."

"Are you serious!?" Balasius, unable to contain his excitement galloped over to the daeben and grabbed his shoulders. "Is the blight gone!?"

Kashi winced as the general squeezed his shoulders. It seemed that in his excitement, the esteemed general had forgotten to control his strength. Kashi, however did not react as he understood the general's feelings. He could not empathize completely, but he had seen enough situations like these to understand the Balasius' reaction.

"Yes, Balasius-san, the blight is gone," Kashi confirmed. "If you give me enough time, I can ensure no traces of the blight remains in this forest."

"We are forever in your debt, Kashi-dono," Mando stated as he stepped forward and bowed.

Kashi's eyes twitched as he looked at the bowing centaur. Damn these freakishly tall centaurs. Even while bowing, Mando was still significantly taller than the daeben. It was quite the comical sight. "It is fine, Alshmeer-san. I did this of my own free will. There are no debts to be paid. Ah, except the situation with my horse. But that was a deal."

"Of course," Mando replied with a smile. "When would you like to hold the ritual?"

Kashi waved his hand. "The ritual can wait. More importantly, there is someone who wishes to meet you all."

"Wait!" Mando's eyes widened in shock as a terrifying possibility popped up. "You don't mean?"

Kashi grinned as he waved his hand. "Come out, Drixali."

Whooom!

A portal appeared at the center of the room, from which the proud demon god emerged with a stern gaze in his eyes. Something had fundamentally changed about the demon. His aura bristled with divine energy, not of this world. The demon's white fur had a soft, warm glow, and lightning sparked wherever he stepped. The demon's horn had doubled in length and curled in on itself. A mini-tempest raged within the cycles, declaring the demon's overwhelming strength.

Drixali glared at the gaping centaurs. His brows furrowed as he vehemently condemned, "You mortals dare stand in the presence of my master?"

A/N: Hi Guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Some of you might be disappointed that the fight against the Blight was skipped, but there's two reason for that. 

1) The battle against the Blight was never the focal point of this arc. That was Kashi's battle against Drixali.

2) The abilities used by Kashi need to remain secret, both to the characters in the story, and also you the readers.. Hence, why his last words in the previous chapter were, "Finally a place no one can see me." sorry, you all were included in that number. 

Regardless I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. We're nearing the end of this volume now. Strap-on folks. I guarantee the ending to this volume will be worth the buildup.

Video of the Day

Just me talking about my thoughts on Dororo Episode 6 (If you love anime, go watch Dororo right now! It's a mature show I can't recommend enough)

https://youtu.be/7NLWO5CkiQs