When morning arrived, Makoto's group had breakfast together with Milim and Rimuru.
"Rimuru, do you have a quiet place that's rarely visited by people, and where it wouldn't matter if things got a little noisy?" Makoto asked Rimuru.
"A quiet place?" Rimuru replied, confused.
"Yes, I want to undergo evolution," Makoto said casually.
"Waka, why didn't I know you could evolve?" Tomoe asked.
"I only found out last night after you all left," Makoto replied.
"Makoto, you're already very strong. You still want to become even stronger?" Milim asked.
"Of course, Milim. Even though I'm already strong enough, at the end of the day my body is still that of an ordinary human," Makoto said.
"If it's a place with few people, I know one," Rimuru said.
After breakfast, Rimuru led Makoto to the location.
"You don't need to accompany me. Didn't I say last night that you should do whatever you want today?" Makoto said while looking at Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki.
"Waka-sama, accompanying you is what we want. We are merely carrying out Waka-sama's wishes," Mio said.
"Didn't you have an appointment with Shuna to exchange cooking techniques?" Makoto asked.
"I've already explained it to Shuna. She understands that this is a very important moment, so we postponed it," Mio replied.
"Mio is right, Waka. Evolution is extremely important. How could we, as your followers and servants, not be by your side while you evolve?" Tomoe said.
"Waka-sama, we will protect you with our bodies and souls while the evolution is in progress," Shiki said seriously.
Makoto could only shake his head.
"Fine, then do as you like," Makoto said.
Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki smiled happily upon hearing his words.
"You all have a very close bond," Rimuru said to Makoto.
"Aren't you also very close to your followers, Rimuru?" Makoto replied.
"Of course. They are precious to me," Rimuru said.
"By the way, Rimuru, haven't we already walked quite far from the city? Where are you taking us?" Makoto asked.
"We're heading to the place where Veldora was once sealed," Rimuru answered.
"Veldora?" Mio asked.
"Ah, Veldora was a dragon who once terrorized many countries and was greatly feared. After fighting a hero, he was sealed for hundreds of years," Rimuru explained.
"So where is he now?" Tomoe asked.
"One day he disappeared, leaving behind only a cave now inhabited by monsters," Rimuru said.
Makoto remained silent after hearing that and didn't ask further questions. Soon, they arrived at the mouth of a cave and entered it.
"Rimuru-sama! Gabiru is very happy about your visit!" Gabiru said joyfully.
"Oh, it seems Rimuru-sama has also brought guests," Gabiru added.
"This is a cultivation area for the valuable hypokute medicinal plants. Not far from here is also Vesta's research facility, where he studies how to create recovery medicine from hypokute plants," Rimuru explained.
"It seems Shiki would get along well with him," Makoto said.
"Shiki? Why?" Rimuru asked.
"Because Shiki is also an excellent researcher. Whenever I need to investigate something, I always ask for his help," Makoto replied.
"Thank you for the praise, Waka-sama," Shiki said.
Rimuru then led them deeper into the cave.
"The concentration of magic energy here is extremely high. I can also feel the lingering aura of a dragon," Tomoe said.
"This is the deepest part of the cave, and also the place where Veldora was sealed," Rimuru said.
"How about this place? No one will disturb you if you evolve here," Rimuru asked.
"This place is quite good. Even if it gets a bit noisy, it won't disturb anyone," Makoto replied.
"Then I'll leave you here. I have some business to take care of with Vesta," Rimuru said, then departed.
"In that case, I'll set up a barrier to conceal my aura. During evolution, I'll be unconscious, and I don't know if I'll be able to maintain my camouflage ability," Makoto said.
"Then, Waka, we'll also create a barrier. Even if ours isn't as strong as the one you make, at least if something happens, we can buy some time," Tomoe said seriously.
"Alright. I'll entrust the outer barrier to you," Makoto said after thinking for a moment.
Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki then created a barrier in a triangular core formation, with Makoto at the center. Once the barrier formation was complete, Makoto looked at the three of them.
"Then, I'll begin the evolution," Makoto said.
Makoto closed his eyes.
"Perfect Assistant, begin evolution," Makoto said in his thoughts.
[Affirmative.]
[Individual Misumi Makoto is beginning evolution from human to Divine Human.]
After hearing Perfect Assistant's voice, Makoto felt sleepy. Since he was standing, he lay down flat on the ground without hesitation and lost consciousness.
Just as Makoto had anticipated, once he lost consciousness, he could no longer maintain the camouflage he always used—even while sleeping. The magic energy naturally released by Makoto caused the area several meters around him to become extremely dense with magic energy.
"Hey, hey, you've got to be kidding me. Just how enormous is Waka's magic energy for this much to leak out unconsciously?" Tomoe said, struggling to breathe due to the dense magic energy in the air.
"Tomoe-san, please focus on maintaining the barrier. Shiki, don't just stand there in shock. Even though Waka-sama has his own barrier, we must not be careless," Mio said sternly.
Whenever it concerned Makoto, Mio was always serious—especially when it involved his safety.
"I know, Mio. I was just shocked by the amount of magic energy Waka is releasing," Tomoe replied.
"I'm sorry, Mio-sama. I was careless," Shiki said.
Makoto, unconscious, had no idea how shocked they were by the magic energy he was unconsciously releasing. Because Makoto always used camouflage on himself, Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki had never realized just how vast his magic energy truly was. The only ones who knew were likely Erin and Makoto himself.
[Notification: Evolution will begin. The individual's physical structure will be reconstructed and evolved into a new race.]
Makoto's body was enveloped in a dazzling rainbow-colored light, then slowly began to float into the air. Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki watched him nervously.
In the world of Eryndal, Erin seemed to sense something. Komoe, who had been playing with Erin, noticed Erin suddenly stop.
"What's wrong, Erin-chan?" Komoe asked.
"Onii-chan is in an important state right now. I want to help him. Komoe-chan, it seems we can't keep playing," Erin said.
"It's okay, Erin-chan. Waka-sama's situation is more important," Komoe replied.
Erin nodded at Komoe and then disappeared, leaving Komoe standing not far from the World Tree.
Not long after, the World Tree—previously shrouded in a faint green glow—began to shine brighter and brighter. The light it emitted could even be seen from the city, despite it being daytime. The guards, unaware of what was happening, asked Ema about it and awaited her instructions. Without hesitation, Ema contacted Komoe through telepathic magic.
"Komoe-sama, what is happening? Why is there such a bright green light coming from afar?" Ema asked.
"Waka-sama is doing something right now, but don't worry. This is only temporary," Komoe replied.
"Understood, Komoe-sama. I will calm the townspeople," Ema said.
Makoto, receiving a transfer of magic energy and soul from Erin, had his evolution greatly accelerated. Using [Unique Skill: Perfect Assistant] and the world's system, the enormous amount of magic energy and soul reconstructed Makoto's body. One could say that previously, Makoto possessed vast magic energy and soul but lacked the means to properly use them.
Now, guided by [Unique Skill: Perfect Assistant] and utilizing the world's system, Makoto gained the opportunity to evolve without limits—surpassing even the world's system itself, as that system was merely a trigger for his evolution.
[Notification: Error Error Error Error Error Error Error Error...]
[Notification: The evolution of Individual Misumi Makoto cannot be calculated.]
[Notification: Proposal from [Unique Skill: Perfect Assistant] to the Voice of the World—request for evolution of Perfect Assistant—completed.]
[Notification: Request from [Unique Skill: Perfect Assistant] accepted. [Unique Skill: Perfect Assistant] will begin evolution.]
[Success: [Unique Skill: Perfect Assistant] has evolved into [Ultimate Skill: Neuria].]
[Evolution of [Unique Skill: Perfect Body] requested.]
[Success: [Unique Skill: Perfect Body] has evolved into [Ultimate Skill: Absolute Body].]
[Evolution of [Unique Skill: Domination] requested.]
[Success: [Unique Skill: Domination] has evolved into [Ultimate Skill: Rule].]
Previously, according to the calculations of [Unique Skill: Perfect Assistant], Makoto's evolution would have required a full day. However, with Erin's assistance in transferring an enormous amount of magic energy and soul, Makoto's evolution was completed in just over half a day—far faster than expected.
As the sun began to set, Makoto's evolution finally ended.
Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki were drenched in sweat. Not only did they have to maintain the barrier formation, but they also had to endure an area saturated with dense magic energy, making it difficult to breathe and disrupting their concentration.
"Shiki, can you still hold on?" Tomoe asked.
"Tomoe-sama, I can still endure. If necessary, I will stake my body and soul," Shiki replied.
"You don't need to go that far. Waka would blame himself if he saw you severely injured because of him," Tomoe said.
"If you've reached your limit, you can withdraw, Shiki," Mio said.
"I'm sorry for my weakness, Tomoe-sama, Mio-sama. I can only endure for a few more hours," Shiki admitted honestly, feeling ashamed of his weakness.
"Don't worry too much, Shiki. Under normal circumstances, even if you were alone, you could maintain a barrier like this for days," Tomoe said.
"Tomoe-san is right, Shiki. Maintaining the barrier itself is easy for us. What's difficult is enduring this area. Just staying here requires a tremendous amount of magic energy and concentration," Mio added.
"At least you can directly absorb magic energy, Mio. That puts you in the best condition among the three of us," Tomoe said while looking at the area around Makoto, filled with crystals formed from highly condensed magic energy.
Before long, the rainbow light surrounding Makoto began to fade and disappear. At the same time, Makoto's body slowly descended from the air and stood before them.
[Notification: Individual Misumi Makoto has completed evolution.]
As Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki watched nervously, they suddenly heard the Voice of the World again.
[Next, bestowal upon all connected individuals will begin.]
Suddenly, all three of them felt extremely sleepy.
"Ugh… what's happening?" Tomoe said, fighting the drowsiness.
"Waka-sama…" Mio said, forcing herself to stay awake while looking at Makoto.
"Ugh…" Shiki groaned as he knelt down, utterly exhausted but trying to remain conscious.
Makoto then regained consciousness. Seeing their condition, he said,
"I'm fine. You don't need to resist the drowsiness. That is a blessing granted to you by the world. Leave the rest to me."
Hearing Makoto's words, Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki felt relieved and stopped resisting the sleepiness. As they were about to collapse, Makoto made them float gently, bringing them slowly before him, and carefully laid them down.
Makoto then looked around. The barrier he had created was still standing firm, but the barrier created by Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki had vanished after they fainted. Looking down, Makoto saw crystals of various sizes scattered across the ground, and the air was still thick with magic energy.
With a single thought, Makoto absorbed the magic energy back into himself, leaving only the magic-energy crystals scattered about.
"Perfect Assistant?" Makoto asked in his thoughts.
[Answer: [Unique Skill: Perfect Assistant] has evolved into [Ultimate Skill: Neuria].]
"Neuria… That's a good name," Makoto said.