Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Despite his somewhat childish tone, the sea monster spoke with confidence, revealing a deeper understanding of dragons than Eren had previously estimated.

Azurea frowned upon hearing his words.

She had indeed tried to exaggerate her father's might to intimidate Eren into submission—or at least force a compromise. But she hadn't expected the sea monster to be far more knowledgeable than he let on.

"Why do you say that, brother?" Eren asked curiously. "Is there someone more powerful than a Calamity Rank dragon residing in Labh Salem?"

The butcher quickly grasped the implication of the sea monster's words and asked directly.

"Ye- Yes," the sea monster nodded slowly. He hesitated for a moment, looking around as if debating internally whether he should reveal this information to Eren.

"Its… its Witch Goddess Two Lips," he finally said in a serious tone.

"Brother Eren, Witch Goddess Two Lips is a special existence in Labh Salem. You should already know how she nearly died before ascending to Immortality.

After her ascension, she was recognized as the Resident Goddess of Labh Salem by this world's Will. I'm sure there's some play involved because the position was offered to her way too quickly but she achieved what she had once proclaimed.

A Resident Deity is very powerful in its homeworld. That's why this world permits the existence of SS-Rank entities, and even SSS-Rank beings can visit without facing direct opposition from Labh Salem's World Will—though under certain conditions."

Eren was quickly reminded of Anfang, his homeworld when he heard the sea monster's words. Forget about Resident Deity, Anfang's World Will wasn't even welcoming of the faith to spread among its denizens because the war between denizens and invaders had broken out in the past.

***

Despite a whirlpool of various thoughts brewing inside his head, the butcher didn't disturb the sea monster, allowing him to continue uninterrupted.

"As the Resident Goddess, she would never allow a Calamity Rank beast to act freely. In fact, no SSS-Rank existence has ever come to Labh Salem or any of the Penta Worlds with their Ranking Status intact.

Even the chaotic times when the Titans and Salemians had joined hands to conquer all the Penta Worlds didn't see SSS-Rank entities getting involved in conflicts. The reason was simple– they could not. They faced absolute rejection from all five worlds that are part of the Penta Worlds."

'Titans and Salemians joining hands?' Eren frowned.

He guessed that this was a period when Anfang faced the invaders from otherworlds. From the sea monster's words, it could be inferred that the Titans were not against joining hands with denizens from otherworlds to conquer a resource-rich foreign world.

"I see," Eren thought of a lot of things at once before coming to a conclusion. "If the rejection is so strong, I'm guessing SSS-Ranked entities are harmful to the worlds they live in."

Eren had interacted with Anfang's World Will directly. He knew that existences like the World Will didn't think in terms of what was good or bad. They didn't even care about the lives of ordinary beings.

For example, Anfang's World Will was fine with Eren's Lazarus Project even though his move ended up killing billions of the world's denizens. A huge landmass was split into many continents, creating the current multi-continental setup in Anfang.

Instead of punishing Eren for causing chaos on a continental level, Anfang's World Will kept its promise and rewarded him with a genuine God Spark.

As such, Eren was sure that Labh Salem's World Will was no different. It didn't care that stronger existences like the SSS-Rank entities killed a bunch of their foes. The consciousness of the world was like a non-humane algorithm that didn't care about the good or bad. It couldn't care less who was the ruler of a particular region.

However, the World Will of any world will take matters into hand when something or someone disrupts the natural order it had established. Since there was a Resident Deity present in Labh Salem, the World Will didn't have to take things in its hands.

However, everything would change if the existence of the SSS-Rank entities was harmful to its world order on a continental scale. It could also mean that the presence of a single SSS-Rank entity was so bad that it had allowed the Goddess Two Lips to become its Resident Goddess.

Eren didn't think that Marina's father was a mindless maniac who'd unleash his powers and go on rampage enough times to affect the flow of the world on a large scale. Otherwise, he would have heard about him in Labh Salem's known records kept by its masses.

As such, there could only be one reason. Even without doing anything, an SSS-Rank entity's presence was no good news for the world.

"Ye– yes," the sea monster said and nodded, solidifying Eren's guess.

"The reason they are called Calamity Beasts is that, whether they intend to or not, they absorb the Worldly Laws of the mortal worlds they inhabit. As pseudo Immortal beings with ridiculous might, they are like walking calamities.

If… if left unchecked, this absorption disrupts the balance of natural elements, leading to droughts, desertification, lack of rain, and every other natural disaster eee… imaginable. Hence, why the SSS-Rank also denotes that they are indeed calamities.

Because of this, no world's World Will tolerates an unrestricted SSS-Rank existence, as they inevitably disrupt the world's life cycles. As Labh Salem's Resident Goddess, Witch Goddess Two Lips will never allow Valys to enter with his full SSS-Rank power.

That bas… bastard dragon Valys would have to accept a Rank Restriction Divine Edict from the goddess before setting foot here. To play it safe, the goddess might even force him to lower his Ranking Status to an S-Rank.

Of course, even if his rank is suppressed, his Elemental Attainments will still far surpass those of others at the same level. He wouldn't be bullied by the Sages and Saints of this world. But as long as we don't have to face him at his peak, we should be fine."

The sea monster said, his gaze shifting toward the twin dragonesses.