Chapter 44: Compensating for Agumon’s Foundation

"Agumon, the day has finally come."

Lucien handed three bottles to Agumon.

"Lucien, thank you for never giving up on me."

Agumon held the three bottles, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

It was Lucien who fed her data when she was weak and powerless.

It was Lucien who generously gave her the precious Tears of the Phoenix.

It was Lucien who went to great lengths to help her gather the materials for her evolution.

Without Lucien, she would probably have remained a low-level magical beast forever.

After wiping away her tears, Agumon ultimately only accepted two of the bottles.

"Lucien, my absorption ability has improved a lot compared to before. I estimate that two bottles will be enough."

"It's fine, take them. A single drop of the Tears of the Phoenix is nothing to me."

Lucien truly didn't care much about the Tears of the Phoenix.

After his encounter with Seekvaira, his strength had increased significantly, and his purification speed had also improved greatly. In the future, he could make a fortune as a middleman.

Moreover, Lucien had also taken Asia as his servant. In Balance Breaker mode, Asia's healing abilities were terrifying, essentially making her a human version of the Tears of the Phoenix.

With both the middleman route and Asia's abilities, the Tears of the Phoenix were nothing rare to him.

...

"Alright, I understand, Lucien."

Agumon didn't hold back either. After all, she belonged entirely to Lucien.

Becoming stronger and being able to help Lucien more was the best way she could repay him.

Crack~ Crack~

Agumon's claws tightened, instantly shattering the two bottles containing the Tears of the Phoenix.

The blood of the Phoenix flew out, coming into contact with Agumon's body.

A brilliant white light erupted.

The sacred radiance illuminated Lucien's entire room.

"This isn't the light of evolution! This is... sacred light?!" Lucien was in disbelief. Could Agumon's sacred attribute really be this strong?

Could it be... that Agumon was about to undergo some kind of branch evolution?

...

Seeing Agumon enveloped in the white light, Seekvaira stepped forward.

"Lucien, what did you just do?" She couldn't understand why such a change would occur after using the Tears of the Phoenix.

"Nothing much, I just used the Blood of the Phoenix to compensate for Agumon's foundation."

"The Blood of the Phoenix? Not the Tears of the Phoenix?"

"You heard correctly, it's the Blood of the Phoenix. I came up with the name myself."

Lucien briefly explained the difference between the Tears of the Phoenix and the Blood of the Phoenix to Seekvaira.

...

"Lucien, you actually have such an ability?!"

"So that's why I became so much stronger after waking up today?"

Seekvaira had thought that her potential had erupted, allowing her to reach the peak of a high-class demon in such a short time. She never expected... it was because of Lucien?

"Wait, Lucien, I have a great idea."

"We can purchase the Tears of the Phoenix, purify them, and then sell the Blood of the Phoenix on the black market."

"I estimate that the price of a single drop of the Blood of the Phoenix would be at least five times that of the Tears of the Phoenix! Maybe even ten or twenty times!"

"At that rate, Lucien, you alone could outpace the entire Phoenix family in terms of earning speed!"

"With money, we could allocate a lot of resources and get more people on our side. This way, your path to becoming a Maou will be smooth sailing!"

"..."

"Seekvaira, your thoughts align perfectly with mine~"

Lucien nodded.

He hadn't done this before because his strength was insufficient. He couldn't protect his assets, nor could he even protect himself.

Now, as long as the Four Great Maou didn't personally intervene, he was confident he could hold his ground.

Even if the Four Great Maou did intervene, he could summon the Infinite Dragon God and go full terrorist mode! He was ready to go all out!

After putting a collar on Katerea, Lucien had gained the qualifications to flip the table!

...

"Alright, I'll handle this. By the way, Lucien, what's the approximate production rate of the Blood of the Phoenix?" Seekvaira continued to ask.

"Production rate... I can purify one drop of the Blood of the Phoenix in less than a day. In a month, I can purify about 50 drops."

"However, this speed will increase as my strength grows. In the future, it'll only get faster."

Before his encounter with Seekvaira, it took Lucien three to five days to purify a single drop.

After their encounter, he could purify a drop in less than a day.

One could only imagine how terrifying his purification speed would be once he advanced to a high-class demon or even a Maou!

"Considering that you'll likely need to purify other things as well, how about we supply five drops to the market each month and use five drops for ourselves?"

"Agreed."

Lucien nodded.

The Sitri family had a significant advantage in terms of platforms.

Even Serafall, when she needed to gather a large amount of resources in a short time, had to seek Seekvaira's help to allocate them.

Having Seekvaira handle the market and platform would not only help him build his faction but also accelerate Seekvaira's rise to becoming a true family head. It was a win-win situation.

.....

For a long time after that, Lucien and Seekvaira discussed the details of building their faction.

Until... the white light gradually dimmed, and Agumon stepped out, her face filled with shame.

Compared to before, Agumon had undergone a complete transformation.

Her yellow body had turned golden, and her claws and skin texture now exuded a sense of high-class elegance and sacredness.

But... Agumon was still dejected.

"I'm... sorry, Lucien... I didn't meet your expectations. I feel like something is still missing."

"You don't need to give me the third drop. The Blood of the Phoenix has no effect on me anymore. I didn't even fully absorb the second drop." Agumon explained her situation.

...

"Something is still missing?"

Lucien opened Agumon's data with a puzzled expression.

[Name: Agumon (♀)]

[Level: LV135 → LV190 (Peak High-Class Demon)]

[Attribute Evaluation]

[Note: Strength within the same level.]

[Strength: A → S-]

[Speed: A → S-]

[Magic: C+ → S]

[Physical Strength: A → S-]

[Martial Arts/Spell Proficiency: S → SS]

(A natural-born warrior Agumon, not only possessing top-tier physical abilities but also spell talent and data processing abilities that surpass even her physical prowess. This is an Agumon who could become a Transcendent through spell mastery alone.)

[Sacred Gear/Bloodline Ability: S → SS]

(1. Data Bloodline: Can absorb data to strengthen herself. Before reaching a certain stage, she can grow stronger as long as she obtains the corresponding data.)

(2. Sacred Bloodline: Possesses a powerful holy attribute. Once fully grown, her holy attribute alone could annihilate the original Lucifer.)

(3. ???: An unawakened ability. Can be awakened once fully restored.)

[Overall Evaluation: S+ High-Class Demon.]

[Summary: An Agumon with immeasurable talent, arguably the most talented Agumon in the world. She has mostly compensated for her innate deficiencies, with only one final barrier remaining.]

[Once broken through, the sky will be the limit for her.]

[However, even without breaking through, this is a warrior-level Agumon who, once fully grown, could single-handedly take down a top-ten world powerhouse.]

...

Although Agumon hadn't fully recovered in the truest sense, Lucien was still satisfied.

With Agumon's current stats—already ridiculously strong without a Sacred Gear—once she reached Maou level, she would be invincible among Maou-level beings!

And advancing to Maou level would be simple for Agumon.

Once she absorbed the magical beast corpses provided by Serafall, Agumon would evolve into a MetalGreymon!

With a Maou-level MetalGreymon that was invincible within its tier, as long as they didn't encounter a Chief God, even a powerhouse beyond the Maou level wouldn't be able to stop Lucien!

"The stats are impressive, but as Agumon said, she hasn't fully recovered."

"What exactly is still missing?"

Just as Lucien was pondering what was missing, a system notification suddenly rang in his mind