"Where's the treasure?" I asked Annie.

"I am the treasure," she responded. You just can't open me quite yet. You'll need to be a god or devil."

"Why's that?"

"My power can only be fully used by them. You know, though, even though I control this place since I was formed, I'm not the real reward here. I control the rewards, but I wouldn't show myself to just anyone. Even rank-six existences would not necessarily be blessed by my presence, let alone bind me. You're special."

"Thank you, but how do I compare to them?"

"Easy. Your potential, with that spell and your races, far surpasses others."

"How do you know about that?"

"I'm a naturally created treasure. This whole world was my playground. How wouldn't I know? Come to your little world, and we'll continue our conversation. I've already moved my real body there, along with all my treasures."

I didn't know how she knew all my secrets, but I followed her back. Once we arrived, I noticed we were on a different continent. Here, she had spontaneously set up a village and mansion.

"These are my servants. Their only slightly more than souls, with no combat prowess to speak of. They're all level one," she commented as figures similar to people began appearing in this area. One motioned for me to follow it into the mansion.

"Welcome," a young girl, who appeared to be around nine or ten years of age, said. "I hope I can help you, and we can have a great friendship."

"You're the compass?" I asked.

"Yes, that's correct. Here, let me show you a little information. Earth, right?"

When she finished, I somehow realized I had comprehended a lot of new information. Earth used to have gods, and they prevented the Great Catastrophe before. Noah was a rank-one god, serving under a rank-three god. Noah used his skill to craft a fortress and to collect either essence seeds or animals from all around. His special skill was related to water, as he comprehended 100% of the divine law.

The information even contained some notes about laws. Divine laws had grades, such as lesser, greater, and pinnacle. The elements, time, space, life, and death are the only pinnacle-grade divine laws. God's knowledge of these laws is one of the main requirements to become one.

Back to the story, once the event began, before the light could shatter space, a great flood was brought forth using one of heaven's corporeal rains. This flood lasted for forty days before the catastrophe was finally averted. Noah, though, wasn't the only god. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Poseidon, Quetzalcoatl, and a few others lived upon the Earth. Zeus and Hades specialized, respectively, in the sky and souls. They were the only rank-two gods to directly descend. The main god was rank-three, but he's been missing for some time.

I was surprised by this. It was different than history books depicted, but the watch even knew my planet's history! What other secrets could it hold? I was excited to see if I could find out more.

I tried asking Annie, but she just said, "It's a secret. You'll know when the time comes. For now, follow me."

I obliged and followed her into a room.

"Here's the real treasure. Unfortunately, you do not have the power to use is currently."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I guess I have to explain at least this much. Here is a drop of a phoenix's blood. The fires of hell are the most powerful fires in the entire universe, but, in all universes, it's the fire of a phoenix, capable of both destruction and healing. Maybe, with all of the fires combined, you could stand up to half of its might."

"Amazing, but why can't I take it?"

"There is too much power locked inside this single drop. Your current body would be unable to take it. As such, I will guard it. Remember, I'm yours now."

"Yes, I know. Do you want to meet my wife and daughters?"

"I'd love to, but I'm not sure it's the best thing right now. They don't know my power—even your demons have only heard legends."

"I guess you're right, then. It would be difficult to explain who you are."

"Correct. Solomon even wouldn't know."

"Who's that?"

"You don't know?"

"I guess I have to tell him, now," Balam said.

"Sorry, I didn't realize," Annie said.

"It's fine. I'd have to tell him eventually. Roberto, Solomon is the name of our old master, a rank-three god serving under the other three-star god you already know about. He stayed for a short time on Earth, which is how you became eligible to become his successor. He gave us his clothing and kept us in his ring. In the battle countless years ago, a curse was placed upon us. After Master's death, we were imprisoned. You now have the job to free us and return us to our former glory. We hope Solomon chose right."

"Don't worry. I'll continue climbing the dungeon and freeing all of you."

"Good."

Annie continued. "I can still give you some other treasures. For one, the great catastrophe starts when everything is lit up, including the space around the planet. Space will appear to shatter beforehand. I hope that helps. Another thing, the phoenix blood is why the god and devil fought in such a small world, eventually destroying it."

"One more thing," Balam interjected. "Although Solomon trapped us and we followed him, eventually willingly, the most powerful of us all was kept hidden, for he wasn't always cooperative. Be careful of him."

"I will," I said.

Annie began walking to another room, so I followed her.

"First off, I planted a dungeon seed within your world, but it will take a long time to sprout, so you have to be patient."

"What's a dungeon seed?"

"It creates the area of a dungeon, along with the special rules that go along with it, such as how monsters can't leave and how it's segregated from normal worlds. You'll have to supply your own monsters and treasures, though. This world is nowhere near enough to create its own. I'll break some apart to make you a bunch of EXP shards when it blossoms, as a gift. Also, you can take a handful now."

She handed me a burlap sack. I opened it up to find a bunch of EXP shards! I knew from the color, each granted ten points! Immediately, I used them. There were also some other gems in the sack, which Annie explained increased my stats. I used them as well.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up! Level 8àlevel 11. All stats increased by +30. SP + 60. Calculating Reward.]

[reward determined. Class ??? Reward: all resistances below level 10 increase two levels. MP increases by 850 total, HE increases by 120 total, DE increases by 310 total. MP regen -10 seconds. Class Skill Lord reward: elementary necromancy techniques level up! Level 4!]

[skill tickets gained: +14. Unknown interference detected. Familiar has consumed eight skill tickets for recovery

[Familiar has consumed three skill tickets.]

[Familiar has consumed three skill tickets.]

[domain congealing +15%]

[domain congealing has passed 70%. Domain function unlocked. There is a chance to gain skills and spells from those who die within the domain of death]

From my technique's increase in level, I gained grant summons, which let me give the skeletons weapons and armor; auto-revive summons, which does so as long as I have DE remaining; communicate with summons, which allows us to talk with words instead of silently following my commands; and, finally, appoint commander, which, in addition to increasing my limit to five-hundred skeletons, allows me to appoint one commander for each squad of ten. The commander can follow broader orders.

As for my stats, strength increased by 40, endurance by 30, speed by 32, wisdom by 40, and dexterity by 50. My luck even increased by 20!

I was happy with the luck increase the most. As for the rest, it was normal. I'd gotten stronger and could more easily deter enemies.

"I'll give you more when you're ready. For now, you should go back and get stronger."

"Don't worry, I was planning on it after reporting back to the angels."

I left my spiritual world and the strange space, returning back.

"I wasn't able to finish the challenge. There were millions of monsters, and it was too much for me to handle."

"I checked with my skill, and he's not lying," Charon said. Truly, I didn't lie, then.

"Too bad we can't try. Together, we may have been able to win," a ghost king mentioned.

From below us, the ground, again, began shaking. This time, it felt much worse.

"Let's get out of here," a macheteswinger said.

The rest of us agreed and began flying up into the sky.

"Follow me, Roberto," Charon said, opening a dimensional tunnel.

I followed him through, and we arrived in space, looking down on a planet.

"That's Ice Hydrangea," he explained. "We're now in normal time. Come, watch how a world explodes."

Following his directions, I saw the whole world becoming impossibly bright.

"Looks like the Great Catastrophe," I commented.

"It seems your memory recovered," He said back.

"Just a bit. I remember the start, but nothing after this," I said back, truthfully.

The light quickly went out a distance of at least one hundred times that of the planet itself before condensing back on a single point.

"It's believed to be a devil's skill," Charon commented.

The single point of light inside the planet exploded the entire thing, sending gigantic amounts of debris far and wide. I was worried they would hit us, but Charon told me to relax. I realized it was because of the planet's gravity. All of the parts combined together again, and the whole process kept repeating. The density increased continuously until, finally, it became a sphere roughly fifteen kilometers in radius.

"You can't lift this up. It's very cumbersome," Charon explained.

I wouldn't even try.

I continued observing the tiny object, as a slice of light slashed through the infinite darkness. With the object split in half, it dispersed particles that, Charon said, were millions of times smaller than an electron. According to him, they will burn up soon in other stars and planets. If the world was destroyed by a devil while still having a core, that's all that would remain. Now, however, nothing did. Just the endless, lonely space.

"Goodbye, Roberto. I'll see you again soon."

"See you later, Charon."

I used my dimensional tunnel at the same time, transferring back to the angel-controlled world to report to Gabriel. I also brought Bella and my daughters out. While initially disappointed they had to stop their jump roping. They were also glad to be reunited with me. They could talk to me whenever through thought control, in the case of Bella, or by virtue of being inside the world, for all three of them, yet they spent a whole two weeks just jumping rope.

With the four of us reunited, we crossed the continent back to the mountain top.

"Welcome back," Gabriel said as we arrived.

"Yes, we're back," I replied.

"Congratulations. Aurora, please come out and act as an official witness. Deathly Angel Roberto, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. You can now lead a platoon of forty soldiers, but I doubt you want to many more. You're mainly a member of the army in name only, anyway. "

"Master Sergent Dark Angel Krystal and Master Sergent Dark Angel Kylee, you are hereby issued a warrant, and, as such, are appointed to the rank of chief warrant officer three."

"Yes, sir!" they said in unison. I could tell they were excited.

"Please, follow me back to Archipelago to bring back your gains," Gabriel said, summoning a dimensional tunnel.

We followed him through, and, on the other side, we were back in Archipelago. Similar to when we were here before, Gabriel led us to the room with the book that soul-bound my daughters. This time, with his key, he opened a small space in the wall. I hadn't noticed it before. Inside, he pressed a button. The wall disappeared, and we entered a sub-dimensional space no bigger than a hotel room.

"Please, put everything onto the ground."

In addition to the small number of items I originally added to my smartwatch, I took out three B- ranked whips that were hiding amongst other treasures, as well as three bottles of world-repairing spring water Annie gave me for this purpose. She told me if I ever needed any, the actual spring was hidden in my spiritual world so well I would never find it. I could, however, get as much of this Restoration Water as I needed. Finally, I laid down two-thousand swords ranked F and F+.

"It's a lot of old swords. We'll take half. Aurora, please record such."

"Yes, sir," she responded, saluting.

"We'll also take the three whips and other items. For the whips, we'll compensate you appropriately. If these bottles are what I think they are, the entire trip would have been worth more than I thought possible. I'll need to see the Seraphims for this. You may just get another promotion."

"Sir, thank you for being so generous," I said while taking the remaining swords back, "May I ask a question?"

"You want to ask a question to such a high-ranking angel?!" Aurora asked, seemingly annoyed. Bella was hiding behind Krystal.

"It's okay. I permit you," Gabriel responded.

"Sir, isn't my rank going to then be the same as yours?"

"No, Commander is part of my race title. I'm actually a two-star general, using your world's terms. You've still got quite a way to go."

Gabriel immediately disappeared. I could have left as well, but I decided we should await his return.

Surprisingly, it took him only about fifteen minutes. He also wasn't alone. His partner made me truly frightened.

"I am Camiel, the third most powerful Seraphim," his voice boomed. "I thank you for your service. Gabriel, be my witness. Although you are not yet an archangel, Lieutenant Commander Deathly Angel Roberto, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Captain."

I somehow jumped up two ranks.

Camiel, the scarily powerful angel in front of me, continued speaking while I just looked on. "Your potential is strong. I hope we can count on you in the future; however, you lead too little troops."

"Yes, sir," was all I managed to choke out.

I also heard Balam tell me, "This guy's slightly more powerful than me at full power. Be careful!"

I already knew that.

"I'll think of how to fix that shortly. For now, take these. When you evolve in race, which I predict will occur, you can use these with the justice energy of an archangel. Consider this your main reward."

A bunch of scrolls flew out, but the seal upon them would not open. I had to store them in Persephone, at least for now.

The final scroll actually opened, allowing me to learn a skill.

Determine justice

Description: See who was just and unjust, and bestow punishments on the unjust, taking their energy into yours. Punishments directly attack souls, as an angel serves as the judge.

It was odd, but I still learned it.

"Let's see what else we can do. He needs to be rewarded for three promotions and the mission. First, you two warrant officers, and you, as well, learn this skill. It's your reward for the mission."

"Yes, sir!" We said in unison

World racial purification

Description: Rid any world below two stars of all members of a particular race

"It's one of our most powerful spells. Usually, one must become a one-star general to have the chance to learn it, but, because of the great returns we received from this little mission, I have decided to gift it to you."

"Sir, thank you, sir." We said after learning it.

"Roberto, for your reward, you will get some animal essence seeds. Tiger, Lion, and Black Bair should be sufficient. This will immensely help your world. We'll also give you a special spell."

I immediately learned the new spell I was gifted.

Birthright

Rank: SS

HE use: 1000

Description: casting it on a baby about to be born, determine their innate aptitude and skills.

It was another powerful spell, but I didn't think I'd get the chance to use it.

"I think this should be enough," Camiel stated. "Gabriel, note down their rewards. I'll deal with the authority. That fairy, with you as my witness, shall also be known as a member of our army for eternity."

"Sir, if I may," Gabriel said hesitantly.

"What is it?" the seraphim responded.

"She works for the Dungeon: Black Tower. Are you sure?"

"Nice catch. She'll be an honorary member. I'll talk to the dungeon's controller about it. Roberto, once you gain your new wings, I'll see you again. Maybe even the number two Seraphim, Zadkiel, will congratulate you."

With those parting words, he appeared to be about to leave. Oddly, he seemed to have thought of something different.

"Gabriel, bring me that artifact."

"Yes, Sir," he saluted while getting the book that bound my soul with my daughters.

"Such a rare and exquisite artifact," Camiel stated as he seemed to be appraising it. "It is only used as a medium to connect two souls, similar to soul binding of armor, where the bound must obey the binder; however, even if this book is destroyed, once the bond is formed, nothing in the who universe can go against it. The bond of two willing parties may use this as a medium, but by no means does it do all the work. Warrant Officers Krystal and Kylee, are you satisfied with your names recorded here?"

"Yes, sir," they both said beaming.

"Good. I was worried you were forced into it. I was going to check up on it one day, but it seems everything's okay. Just remember, your lives are linked with his soul. If it dies, so do you. I think you chose a wonderful master, even if you didn't have to go this far."

"The bond increases our power," Krystal said.

"It also makes him trust us more, so we know his secrets—not that we'd ever tell," Kylee continued.

"Of course. Not that I could have done anything. That's one less paper on my desk." Camiel turned around, but, before he could vanish, the door of the other room opened.

"Who dare encroaches on this room?" Camiel bellowed.

"I have never allowed anyone else unless the planet was under attack," Gabriel angrily stated.

The angel stood there shaking, unable to read what was on the paper in front of her.

"Give me that," Gabriel said, obviously angry as he snatched the paper away.

Soon after, he said, "I forgive you."

He then turned towards Camiel. "General, I may need your assistance."

"You can't handle it yourself?" Camiel asked. "Just what is happening?"

"Well, both the Golab and Gamaliel seemed to have found our world and joined up to attack us. The Golab chief, Lilith, seems to even be leading the charge.

Hearing the name, Furcas spoke up. "Lilith is ancient, just like us. I know of her, as she's just as strong as me."

It was a powerful foe, but, maybe, Typhon could be of use.

Gabriel immediately acted. "Belinda, I authorize you to sound the alarm," he said, giving her a ring-shaped token.

"Yes, sir," she said before quickly running off.

"Camiel, do you want to take command, or do you wish to fight?"

"With Lilith here, I should be fighting. I'll let you be the commanding officer. This is your planet. Roberto, study this."

"Yes, sir," Gabriel said as Camiel gave me a book. "Then, your orders will be to focus on Lilith. From the report, she is wearing very good armor."

"Alright, commander," Camiel said.

Gabriel continued with his orders. "Roberto, you and your squad stay here and hide. I'll seal the area so no enemies will find you," he said as he rushed out of the sub-dimensional space with the seraphim.

Suddenly, I heard alarms blaring and a broadcast message to get to your battle stations. At almost the same time, a loud explosion resounded.

"You forgot me, Commander!" Aurora said. She was with us for now.