"...Can I go back to this world when I leave?"

"If you get enough power then yes but I doubt that chance would come within the next decade."

Kai contemplated for a bit. Right now, he was trying to get as much power as possible but he was also pressed for time. If he had enough time then he would've definitely tried to find it but he knew that even if he did acquire the weapon, he couldn't use it. What was the point?

"Then, I'll head towards the gate instead. Give me the direction."

"Ooh~ You actually want to abandon the thought of an Ancient Gear in your hands, I can't tell if you're foolish or apathetic."

"If that Ancient Gear was so easy to get then you would've already taken it. Even the Spirit King can't resist the temptation of an Ancient Gear, let alone you who seem to be starving for power. I'll take it when I have enough strength."

"AHAHAHA! This is why all you Supreme Being candidates are interesting! I'll give you a gift, I'll send you directly to the gate!"

Kai felt his body being moved by a gravitational force as his feet were lifted off the ground. Then at a speed so fast that even Kai's eye couldn't process it, he arrived at a black gate, it was ten meters tall and eight meters wide, it had white light inside it and the other side couldn't be seen.

"You already beat the last trial when you destroyed those figures and you would've needed to travel for half a month before you reached this place so this is my gift to you."

Kai was skeptical but he was just given a gift, why wouldn't he accept it?

Without any more hesitation, he stepped into the portal, turning his view into white.

"That Spirit King should really check if the souls he trapped into that world are still conscious..."

Kai sighed and proceeded through the hallway that he had just been teleported in. At the end of it was a small pedestal with a translucent violet ball resting on top. There was also a star-shaped symbol on it.

As Kai walked, various memories appeared inside his mind. When he was freaked out the moment he saw it appear on Akane's head, when it appeared beside his bed at night, when it gave him the ability to fight, when it- no, he became his only companion. When thinking about all that, Kai's normally stoic face changed and showed joy along with a hint of melancholy.

"It's been too long, Reo. It's nice to see you again."

Kai said as he stood in front of the pedestal holding the violet ball. He didn't grab it, he simply sat down.

...

Hours passed, Kai kept talking on and on about his experiences and everything that had happened over the years without expecting responses.

"You remember Erina, right? She's my girlfriend now, along with another girl named Amelia, she's an actual princess. I guess you could say both of my lovers are part of royalty. Though you've always told me to go for only a single girl because more than one is just trouble, I couldn't help it. Both of them are big parts of my lives already. Without them, I wouldn't be complete- no, even with them I'm still not complete. I'm missing my best friend after all. So, hurry up and come over here."

Kai laid down on the floor and looked straight up. There, a translucent violet ball-like creature was floating, it had a star-shaped symbol on its forehead and looked very much like the ball on the pedestal. For Kai, that was a creature he would never forget, it was with him for years of his life after all. Reo was a big reason that he is who he is today.

"...I wanted to listen a bit more though."

"I can tell you all you want later."

"You aren't going to leave again?"

"Never again."

"How can I be sure of that?"

"Because now, I can even instant kill S-class, why would I have to be afraid of someone like the Spirit King in the future? Just wait, soon he'll be on his knees bowing to my power."

Reo's mouth curved into a smile.

"A fitting master for the Sin of Pride of the Seven Deadly Sins."

"Arrogance, pride, confidence, name them, I have them. Now, let's get out of here, shall we?"

"You know what's going to happen after this, don't you?"

"Enemies? Bring them on."

"Injuries?"

"Injuries? Who do you think you're talking to? I'd put even the Goddess of Healing to shame."

Reo's smile grew even bigger.

"Then, master. Let's go."

"Ou!"

The instant after Kai's words ended, the hallway changed; the walls raised up and revealed an arena much like the one where Kai fought in the presence of Gods and Goddesses.

All around them were the same as the dozen figures that attacked Kai. But now, it was different. Kai couldn't feel any pressure at all despite the sheer amount. What was he going to use, Abyssal Wolf? The scabbard? No, he wouldn't use any of those that would leave him nearly dead.

Kai ran forward without hesitation.

"Reo!"

Reo burst into smoke and went into Kai's orifices.

"[Spirit Form: Rend]!"

Kai put his palm forward and a huge laser of darkness shot out, instantly vaporizing the figures in front of him.

"[Spirit Form: Shadow Ball]!"

Kai created dozens of magic circles and each one rotated while launching hundreds of Shadow Balls. The beginner spell decimated the figures on par with S-class so easily that it felt unreasonable.

"[Spirit Form: Shadow Breath]."

Kai's cheeks puffed up, the instant he opened them, a wave of darkness spread out and destroyed the figures in front of him. Though the range was short, the power was great.

"[Spirit Form: Shadow Claw]!"

His hands were covered in huge clawed hands made of darkness, with each slash he made, a figure died. With each swing he made, two of them died.

Kai kicked the floor and made an axe kick, a horizontal crescent wave of darkness followed and killed everything in a straight line in front of him.

But how was he able to kill S-class so easily? The answer was his own strength. Spirit Form took a lot out of a person but in turn amplifies their base strength. If Kai at E-class had the power of C-class, then Kai at S-class would reach SS-class. The catch was that he couldn't use any other elements because he was borrowing Reo's power which was darkness.

Kai clapped his hands together, making the Shadow Claws disappear. Then he balled up his hands into fists and made movement as if unsheathing a sword from his waist. A thin, single-edged sword formed in his hands, on Earth it was called a katana. A weapon designed for slashing and maneuverability. Kai chose this weapon because during this fight where he was surrounded, he needed a weapon that he could move with little effort.

"Null Distance Sword."

Kai spoke out the name of the sword style he was using. A huge leap forward with a downwards slash, the figure evaded it by jumping backwards because it felt danger when looking at Kai's weapon but a strange happening occurred. Kai's body faded into a ghost-like form and materialized directly in front of the figure, allowing him to strike at the best possible range.

With absolutely no resistance to getting cut, the figure was split in half. But Kai wasn't done there, he moved to the next enemy. It was a figure holding a spear, Kai stepped once forward and slashed sideways, the figure dodged but like before, Kai turned into a ghost-like form of himself and materialized in front of the figure, cutting it in half.

"What kind of sword style is that?!"

"I just thought that aiming while slashing took more effort than simply slashing so why not? My body, clothes, and weapons just dematerialize temporarily and materialize a short distance away. It takes mana to break them down but fortunately, I have this one of a kind type of body that can take in mana."

"...The Supreme Beings must've made a mistake giving you of all people that body..."

Kai shrugged and continued his attacks. With each attack he missed, the ghost-like form accompanied it; killing the figures instantly. One, two, three, four, five, they all fell down one by one. Kai's surroundings soon became littered with corpses but he wasn't done there, he picked up the pace. Two, four, eight, sixteen, he used a variety of techniques to cut down more and more opponents.

For the first time since Kai got into this room, he saw an end to seemingly endless wave of figures. Not a single fatal wound was on his body even though the figures got stronger with each passing second. Kai had long since abandoned using the Null Distance Sword Style because of the amount of enemies closing in at once.

Though it was a seemingly unstoppable sword style, it had one fatal flaw; it could only target one each time and it had to be right after the figure dodges or the attacker misses. Kai could only kill multiple figures at once by slashing sideways and using the force from that to cut apart those next to it.

Like before, the figures were getting smarter and stronger and Kai's Spirit Form was just about over.

"...Flashy exit?"

"Let's do this."

""HAAAAAA!""

Both of them roared and their power soared even higher than what it was before. They were using everything they had without keeping even the tiniest scraps of reserves. Kai's power soared from S-class to SS-class but it wasn't done there, it kept increasing further and further.

After reaching S-class, the concept of steps disappeared. In SS-class, power couldn't be rated by numbers but if categorized into early, middle, and late SS-class, Kai's power soared all the way to the middle.

""Spirit Form: Howl, [Abyssal Wolf]!""

Using both of their powers, a giant wolf materialized around Kai. Kai slashed forward with the katana made of darkness and with the insane amount of power poured into the wolf, it literally tore apart everything in its path. Even space itself was breaking and multiple cracks much like what the second slash of the scabbard made appeared all around.

The figures didn't even last a millisecond once the wolf reached them, they were all dragged inside and at the very end of the wolf's travels, it exploded then imploded before howling into the sky. If Kai's Abyssal Wolf during the fight with the demon reached the entire continent then Kai's current attack could very well reach half the world, they had that much of a difference in power.

Kai's orifices let out black smoke. The black smoke materialized into the translucent violet ball with a star shape on its forehead. Kai was leaning on his sword for support while Reo looked extremely exhausted. Neither of them talked even though the battlefield around them was in chaos.

"Was that good enough for you?"

Kai smirked, making Reo's lips curve into a smile.

"Welcome back, master."