The Strongest Eriri in History

Slowly walking to Certain Death's side, Eriri reached out and gently ran her fingers through the black-and-white strands of her hair, chuckling softly. "Have you calmed down now?"

Antilene (Certain Death) felt utterly speechless. In her current state, unable to move, how could she possibly calm down?

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Fine, I'm calm now. Can you release me? Losing control of my body is very uncomfortable."

"Of course, no problem."

As soon as Eriri finished speaking, Antilene found that she could move again, finally regaining control of her body. She let out a sigh of relief but dared not try attacking Eriri again.

"Are you an 'YGGDRASIL' player?" Antilene asked seriously, staring at Eriri. There seemed to be no other plausible explanation.

Eriri's overwhelming strength made her feel powerless. Once confident in her title as the strongest under heaven, Antilene now suddenly realized just how weak she was.

"Of course not," Eriri replied with a light laugh, shaking her head. "It seems like you all attribute anything you can't comprehend to players. But let me tell you, even the strongest 'players' from 'YGGDRASIL' aren't much stronger than you."

Antilene didn't refute this claim. The arrival of players undeniably left a profound impact on this world. The distinction often lay in whether they leaned towards good or evil.

But there was no doubt that nearly all 'players' who descended into this world possessed power at its apex, save perhaps for the leader of the Thirteen Heroes. Even that leader, despite starting at a low level, had an unparalleled talent that no native of this world could match. With time, they too rose to the pinnacle of power.

After a few moments of silence, Antilene asked, "Then who are you? And what do you want with me?"

"Didn't I already tell you? I just want to chat," Eriri said, shrugging with a hint of helplessness. "I enjoy befriending beautiful girls like you."

Antilene narrowed her black and white eyes at Eriri, clearly skeptical.

"What's with that look? I'm serious!" Eriri said with mock indignation. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you. If I wanted to deal with you, you wouldn't have even had the chance to move earlier."

Hearing this, Antilene couldn't help but acknowledge the truth in Eriri's words. Against overwhelming power, there was no need for scheming.

Reluctantly convinced, she nodded, though she still didn't understand the purpose of their conversation. She thought to herself that if Eriri were male, they might discuss emotions or family legacies. Given her strength, their offspring would undoubtedly be extraordinary. Unfortunately, two women couldn't conceive, a realization that filled her with mild regret.

"I see your point," she said, leaning her massive scythe against the wall. Fixing Eriri with a steady gaze, she continued, "But can you at least tell me your name? It's unfair for you to know so much about me while I know nothing about you."

Eriri nodded. "That's reasonable. Listen carefully—my name is Eriri Spencer Sawamura, and I'm from another universe."

"Another universe?" Antilene asked, her eyes filled with confusion.

She had heard of other worlds before. After all, the Six Great Gods who founded the Slane Theocracy hailed from another world. But the term "universe" was foreign to her, and she didn't understand its significance.

The next stretch of time turned into a lecture, as Eriri explained the concept of the multiverse. She detailed the structure of countless worlds, the hierarchy of strength across the multiverse, and various concepts far beyond Antilene's comprehension.

Learning that her once-proud abilities amounted to the bare minimum in the multiverse's hierarchy left Antilene stunned. To help her truly understand, Eriri proposed taking her on a journey through other worlds.

Though initially skeptical, Antilene didn't refuse the offer. She wanted to see whether Eriri's claims held water and whether she had been nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well.

The trip would take several days, but she didn't mind. Most of her time was spent in the sanctum anyway. Leaving for a few days—or even years—was of no consequence.

Before they departed, Eriri decided to return Ophis and Scarlet to the Saekano world. As for Milim, her status as a member of the chat group made interdimensional travel easy, costing just 1,000 points per ticket. Milim could choose to stay in the Overlord world, return to Saekano, or go back to her original world. It was entirely up to her.

For this trip, Eriri planned to take only Antilene and Kohina Hiruko, leaving Evileye in the Overlord world for now. She would return for her after this adventure.

With all preparations in place, Eriri, Antilene, and Kohina left their home world behind.

"This… this is the universe? It's beautiful."

Antilene's face filled with awe as she gazed at the countless points of light surrounding them.

Rather than using teleportation, Eriri had flown them beyond the atmosphere, breaking into the vast expanse of space. Below them, Antilene saw the glowing sphere she had lived on for over a century, realizing just how small her world truly was.

Before departure, Eriri granted Antilene and Kohina the ability to survive in the vacuum of space, enabling them to see, hear, and communicate normally.

Antilene marveled at her surroundings, while Kohina played in zero gravity, her arms outstretched as if embracing the stars. Both were overwhelmed by the boundless wonder of the cosmos.

During her time with Kohina Hiruko, Kohina's life had been nothing but training and slaughter, leaving her no opportunity to learn or explore. Her knowledge that stars were other celestial bodies in the universe only came from her brief schooling in the Saekano world.

"Onee-chan, this place is so much fun!" Kohina exclaimed. Floating motionless not far from Eriri, she flailed her arms and legs playfully. However, without using her abilities, her body remained still, drifting in place.

Smiling, Eriri approached and patted Kohina's head affectionately. Then she turned to Antilene. "So, Antilene, do you want to know what kind of world the 'YGGDRASIL' players come from?"

"Wait, you know?" Antilene's eyes lit up with curiosity.

In truth, she had always been intrigued. Most of what she knew about players came from the records stored in the theocracy's archives. Beyond that, her knowledge was limited.

"Of course. Before we leave this universe, I'll take you to see it. It's not far from here—just about a thousand galaxy clusters away."

Antilene nodded, half-understanding. Since Eriri described the distance as "not far," she accepted it as truth. What she didn't realize was that this perspective only applied to someone like Eriri. For Antilene, even an infinite lifetime would be insufficient to traverse such a "short" distance relative to the universe's scale.

"Let's go. I'll give you both a little tour of this universe first."

Eriri reached out and grabbed the hands of Kohina and Antilene. In the next moment, they vanished from the star system, transformed into a streak of light.

Over the next two hours, Eriri took Antilene and Kohina on a whirlwind tour of the universe.

They saw countless black holes, including one so massive that it consumed entire neighboring galaxies. Without Eriri's protection, Antilene and Kohina would have been completely devoured, erased from existence.

To Eriri, however, these black holes were nothing more than simple curiosities. Even if she stood at the heart of a black hole, its gravity wouldn't faze her in the slightest. To her, the pull of a black hole was nothing more than a joke.

Now, the three of them floated above a dim, dark planet. This planet, shrouded in perpetual gloom, was none other than Earth—the original home of the 'YGGDRASIL' players who had crossed over into the Overlord world.

Eriri still held both Kohina and Antilene's hands. At some point, Antilene's black gloves had disappeared, leaving her soft, delicate hands exposed. She could clearly feel the warmth and smoothness of Eriri's palm. By now, she had grown accustomed to these gestures of intimacy and even found them oddly comforting.

What had once felt unfamiliar now seemed natural. To Antilene, the chance to be close to Eriri was nothing short of a blessing.

"This planet looks like a dead star. Are you sure there's life down there?" Antilene asked, her tone filled with doubt.

When observing her own world earlier, she could clearly make out its natural features. But this planet was different—its surface was entirely obscured by thick, black fog, impenetrable to even the sun's rays.

After their brief tour of the universe and Eriri's occasional explanations, Antilene had learned much about celestial bodies. She could now distinguish between a healthy planet and one on the brink of death.

Judging by its current state, she estimated that it wouldn't be long before this planet fully succumbed, becoming an uninhabitable wasteland.

"Oh, there's definitely life. And plenty of it. Let's go; you'll see for yourself."

With that, Eriri led Antilene and Kohina through the planet's dense atmosphere and into its interior.

This was a world of despair.

Decades of unchecked environmental pollution had ravaged Earth's ecosystems. Toxic gases and waste had accumulated in the upper atmosphere, forming thick black smog that blocked out sunlight. Even the air people breathed was laced with poison.

As a result, everyone outside wore goggles and gas masks as a necessity. The absence of sunlight had decimated plant life, depriving the planet of its natural air purifiers. The loss of vegetation triggered a domino effect, leading to a sharp decline in animal populations.

With pollution left unchecked, even water sources became severely contaminated. Rivers were so polluted that ordinary purification plants couldn't process the water. Only highly specialized filtration systems could produce water fit for consumption.

Since plants couldn't survive outdoors, crops like grains and fruits were grown exclusively in indoor facilities. This scarcity drove up food prices exponentially, turning basic sustenance into luxuries affordable only to the wealthy elite.

For the impoverished, this world was a constant nightmare of survival.

Governments no longer held true power. Instead, vast conglomerates ruled, controlling everything. These megacorporations built isolated ecological cities for the elite, where life resembled a time before Earth's decline.

The rest of humanity lived as tools for these corporations, toiling endlessly for meager wages. It wasn't uncommon for workers to collapse and die on the job, their lives ground away by the relentless machinery of profit.

To further tighten their grip on the lower classes, the megacorporations made education astronomically expensive. The cost of sending a single child to elementary school was enough to financially cripple an entire family.

Here, in this desolate world, the divide between rich and poor was an unbridgeable chasm—a stark and unrelenting testament to humanity's capacity for self-destruction.

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