"... Elaborate," Terry said.

"The worlds are full of mana, and those who rule it can use the mana as they see fit, the smart way is to create monsters and make them invade other worlds," the creature explained. "Once that happens, the mana of the said world will change and the overlord will be able to reach the next one."

"How can one become an overlord?" Terry asked. "Also, why can’t overlords pass through portals freely?"

"... First, you need to learn a certain spell to bind the world to you and the people in it," The creature said after a few moments of silence. "I can teach you that, it won’t take more than one week to learn."

"Is that so?" Terry asked, and then he swung down the sword.

The sphere and the monster were split in two, and the creature didn’t have time to react. At the same time, Terry felt his sword leveling up a lot... there was no point in talking with an enemy further.

Blacksteel Sword of the Fire Swordsman - Lv 54 (40/540 EXP) (Heroic)

Attack Power: 1080

Defense: 1080

Magic Power: 1080

Health Charge: 2200/5000

Durability: 3150/5400

Stinger: A quick thrust that makes you cover a distance of fifty meters in a single moment. Cooldown time: 05 seconds.

Critical Rate Up: increases chances of causing critical damage by ten percent.

Block Rate Up: increases chances of blocking damage by ten percent

Self Repair: it recovers one point of durability per hour

"His hesitation was a sign that he wanted to screw with me... I couldn’t trust him after he stopped to think for a while," Terry said and then he saw the area trembling alongside the portal.

The stone knights began to fall as well, but it was at a slow pace... that would only fully happen when the portal closes completely, so Terry decided to finish them off. Since he had a hard time fighting the overlord directly...

"Everything that he said until that time was probably true... still, I guess it is impossible for humans to follow a single person," Terry thought. "In this war, I guess it would be more convenient if I also could move freely."

Perhaps learning how to become an overlord would be more of a problem than a real solution... Terry couldn’t spread the knowledge without risking making some humans try to do that and they were too busy for infighting.

In any case, when the sun began to rise, the portal disappeared and Terry finished his job. Before long, Rebecca and Vanessa showed up to help him gather the magic stones.

"You are awfully quiet," Rebecca said. "What happened?"

"I just got some troublesome pieces of information..." Terry said.

While they were working Terry explained the bad news to them. From what they understood, it seemed that Earth would never stop being targeted by overlords. Besides, the stronger the overlord or the more mana they have, the faster they will be able to invade earth... that was truly a problem. Still, Terry kept hidden the fact that humans also could become overlords.

"Hmm... maybe we were being naive thinking that someday we could live in a peaceful world again," Vanessa said. "Well, we were planning to keep some dungeons open, so perhaps it can’t be happening."

The human society changed... humans needed monsters, materials and meat as well to survive. At least that made Terry realize that he will have to keep fighting until the day of his death, so he won’t have to worry about finding a purpose when things become peaceful Again.

Once the group returned to the city, Terry presented the body of the monster to Rosalia and Francis. The population celebrated the Victory and Terry left the diplomatic work to Vanessa and Rebecca and then he went to his room. Things were noisy outside, but he had a lot of thinking to do.

"I guess I should just hunt the trents until it is time to leave," Terry thought. "I need to use all the chances to level up my gear after this incident..."

In the end, Terry decided to spend the day resting and then hunt the monsters later. Still, Francis came to bother him in the afternoon. Terry couldn’t complain about those who keep things hidden since he had a lot of secrets, but Francis sure had guts of showing up like that. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Please, don’t glare at me," Francis said. "I knew that our city wouldn’t fall, but it was only something temporary. The mana that we can use can only last for so long, after all."

"I don’t care, I just want our rewards and return home," Terry said.

"I can tell why you are in a hurry, but we need to talk," Francis said. "You didn’t notice since you were busy, but I also heard what the monster said. I have a relic that lets me use Clairvoyance to some extent."

"... What a curious hobby you have," Terry furrowed his eyebrows. "In any case, you don’t seem like the type who is overly greedy, and since you came to talk, then it is clear that you don’t want that information to spread."

"No, I am not worried about that, I am worried that some humans are already on the path to become overlords," Francis said. "There is a relic, it is quite rare, but it let you take command of others. It is also beneficial to the party that becomes controlled since they can use a part of the powers of their masters. In any case, this relic probably mimics the spell that the overlord mentioned. Since it also works on monsters, I can tell that it is the real deal."

The overlord used monsters that weren’t from his species... he probably created them somehow by putting them magic stones and some other short of technology and then used the relic or a spell.

"What kind of relic is that?" Terry asked.

"All I know is that it is an orb," Francis said.