A fist wrapped in golden energy swung forth with all its might.
Boom!
Within the space station, a thunderous impact resounded. Cracks spread across the antimatter core like a spiderweb, ultimately shattering it.
Roooar!
With a final pained cry, the Doomsday Beast's body dissolved into motes of golden and purple light.
"We did it!" March 7th leaped up in excitement.
Tatsuki returned to the group, his attention drawn to Stelle. Energy was still flowing out from her body.
"What… what do we do?" The others exchanged worried glances.
"Leave it to me."
A calm, mature male voice spoke. Its owner rested the head of a cane against Stelle's forehead; a flash of purple light streaked by. The outflow of energy halted, and Stelle—about to fall—was caught by Tatsuki, who gently laid her on the ground.
"Yang-shu!" March 7th exclaimed softly, calling him by name.
"Mm."
The cane's owner was Welt Yang. Adjusting his glasses with his right hand, he spoke with both inquiry and puzzlement in his tone.
"You two seem to be March's friends. Thank you for helping our train crew."
Himeko and Dan Heng also approached. "May we ask how we should address you?"
"Tatsuki."
"I'm… Ainz!"
Ainz, who had been standing off in the distance, raised his hand sheepishly.
Welt turned to them.
"Mr. Tatsuki, Mr. Ainz—where did you come from? We've never seen you here on the space station."
They received no answer. Instead, Tatsuki gave March 7th a meaningful smile and waved.
"That's for March to explain. We need to leave now."
The Companion Quest had concluded, and time was up.
[Ding! Detected that Tatsuki has defeated the Doomsday Beast. The Antimatter Legion has retreated. Time's up; the Apocalypse Journey is over!]
[Tatsuki gains 60,000 Apocalypse Points; March 7th gains 15,000 Apocalypse Points; Ainz gains 5,000 Apocalypse Points!]
[Participants from other worlds will be forcibly returned once the countdown ends!]
[Countdown: 5, 4…1. Return Forced!]
At the end of the countdown, Tatsuki's figure vanished on the spot.
"Huh?" Dan Heng's eyes narrowed. Glancing back, he saw that Ainz was also gone.
"They… disappeared?" Himeko frowned in confusion.
Welt's gaze flickered with intrigue.
"It seems March knows who they are."
At that, three sets of eyes focused on March 7th.
"Ah? Err… Well, you see…" March 7th scratched her head with an awkward laugh, not knowing what to say.
Meanwhile, Stelle could only think… Hey, I'm still lying on the ground here!
…
Back Home
"I'm back."
Tatsuki reappeared in his room, where he once again lifted Eriri onto the bed, letting her rest against him. Then he opened the Apocalypse Chat Group's ability enhancement interface.
He'd accumulated quite a bit of Apocalypse Points.
70,000 from clearing out evil spirits and yokai in his own city, 60,000 from the mission in Nami's world, and now another 60,000 from March 7th's world, for a total of 190,000 points.
For the time being, he decided not to upgrade Lightning Dharma. After all, at Level 3, it was plenty sufficient for dealing with lesser undead or evil spirits. His Vector Manipulation was already at Level 5, so next, he eyed other abilities.
"Let's boost my constitution first."
Spending 50,000 points, he upgraded his Physical Enhancement to Level 4. But when he tried to upgrade further, the chat group displayed:
[Current B-level skill, Physical Enhancement, has reached its max level. Cannot upgrade further!]
"Maxed out?"
This was the first time he'd encountered a cap. It was clear that an ability's rank determined its upper limit.
"S-level Vector Manipulation can keep going past Level 5, but B-level Physical Enhancement only goes up to Level 4."
Since he couldn't raise that anymore, he shifted his focus to Intuition. The previous battle had exposed shortcomings in his experience. Lacking true high-level fights, he often relied on straightforward brute force or reflection. If he ever faced an attack he couldn't reflect, he might be in trouble. Upgrading Intuition would improve his response time and combat instincts.
He spent 60,000 points to raise A-level Intuition to Level 4.
As expected, an A-level skill could still go higher afterward.
"So, B-level maxes at 4, C-level might cap at 3… That's useful info."
With 80,000 points remaining, Tatsuki decided to try his luck on the Roulette again.
He spun it, and the first stop wasn't empty!
[Congratulations! You acquired a Rokushiki Training Manual!]
"Rokushiki?"
He checked the item details:
[Item]: Rokushiki Training Manual
[Effect]: Reading it allows quick mastery and cultivation of the Six Powers.
It was indeed from Nami's world.
"Huh, but this isn't very useful for me personally."
He shrugged. For someone at his level, Rokushiki wasn't much. However, it might be helpful for Eriri, Sayuri, and others in the future.
'After all,' he mused, 'we are basically one family now. Giving them something to protect themselves with can't hurt.'