Chapter 772 - ff

Chapter 7

I tapped Alfia with my Staff of Asclepius before even inviting her into my home. I had no intention of negotiating any services, items, or favors from a girl that was sick to the point where even lifting her eyelids was tiresome.

Although to be completely honest, I mostly healed her out of habit. The only other significant reason for acting as such was because it made me look good in front of Airi and Artemis.

I didn't particularly concern myself with the benefits of ingratiating myself with the Zeus and Hera Familia even further with this act since fixing up Meteria would be sufficient for Hera and I already had many other ways to convince Zeus to follow my lead in the following months.

I disregarded any further courtesies and confidently walked down into the basement floor of the mansion after inviting everyone to follow me.

Right into the secret realm I had managed to set up and develop over the time we spent outside of Orario. Since I had no use for the secret realm when I had been traveling the world, I could afford to disconnect it from the time stream and then reconnect it when I got back, enabling me to cheat the limitations of my controlled time dilation settings, allowing the magically charged world filled with creatures and plants to develop by themselves over a random period of time.

Over thousands of years passed within when only less than a year had passed for me. Truly, my luck is the greatest thing in the world.

Easiest secret realm development plan of my life!

I wouldn't have risked it back at my home universe, as Great Red had the right domains and conditions to find my realm, but it was a different case in this world where the idea of traversing the timeline was completely alien to these gods despite their greater conceptual strength and authority.

Hmm, note to self, I should farm up a couple of secret realms this way before going back to my homeworld. I can just bring them alone easily by stuffing them all in my super interspatial rings anyway.

Upon completing that train of thought within one of my spirit's multiple independent thought processes dedicated to idea, musings and monologues I proceeded to use the opportunity to test my ability against one of the strongest humans of this world.

Goading Alfia to spar with me required less time than what it took to brew a cup of tea.

"You provoked me into battling yet all you have to show for is this shabby swordsmanship?"

"It can't be helped. Magic is my specialty, but using it will end the fight too quickly."

It wasn't as if my melee combat abilities were terrible, per se… my movements were 'perfect', in the sense that I copied and practiced enough to get rid of excessive movements. I just didn't know how and when to use them to its most effective level as I hadn't gone through enough enlightenment in the ways of combat.

The girl in front of me, however, had been fighting since she was a child as a frontline fighter. Magic may have been her specialty, but she was a master with every weapon! She had picked up one of the 'decent' blades I threw in front of her and was using the magical weapon as if she was its owner in a matter of seconds.

My base speed was higher than hers with Touki, in spite of that, her response speed was monstrous in comparison to mine and she was easily striking my body, triggering my self-replenishing magical defenses at speeds far beyond that of any opponent I had ever faced before.

Airi may have entered the realm of Ultimate class devils through our regular spars and the subtle energy infusions I performed on her through sex but she was a hell lot less dangerous than this 16-year-old Adventurer in front of me!

"What a coincidence. I happen to be a mage myself… do you have a deathwish?"

In spite of speaking the words that signified instant defeat, Alfia opened her eyes and smiled with anticipation.

Her enchanting grey and green eyes made me freeze for a moment… goddamn it, aren't I becoming more and more unfaithful as a husband the longer I stay here?

"Gospel."

I didn't get a chance to consider that possibility for a second longer when the mountain top we were fighting was crushed into pieces.

The heavy blocks of sound buffeted against my Touki-enhanced defenses, I allowed myself to crash into the ground below, and excitedly examined my shaking hands.

Haha… the only time I've been hit with such blunt force was when I allowed Airi to use her ultimate punch on me… my wife could rarely ever hit me with that move at the level I was fighting at, for Alfia to do so with a single chant even with most of her magical might be restrained by her active magic negating enchantment… ah, looks like I have to turn more of my magical defenses back on, lest I waste some of my life-saving contingencies.

I rolled out of the way of Alfia's swing at my laying down form, avoiding the earth-shattering blow then took out a shield to defend myself against her following attacks. She may not have Airi's raw strength but her attacks were far more dangerous!

"You may as well turn off that enchantment of yours. I won't be casting any real spells in this fight, outside of this one… Gospel."

"Wh-!?"

I blew apart our entire surroundings, erasing several mountains and caused thousands of magical beasts to flee their destroyed homes. With a burst of power, I channeled magic to the land and activated the realm's mechanisms, causing time to reverse in a limited fashion in order to restore the places devastated by our battle.

Alfia was blasted through several mountain ranges and bounced off the ground several times. It was a moderate injury, but not a serious one, as her enchantment negated a good amount of the spell. Even so, the blunt force of the modified version of her own spell, Satanas Verion, managed to hurt her in spite of her secret defense magic.

I used a special movement to take a thousand steps with the effort of only a single step, arriving right in front of Alfia and plastered a cocky smile on my face.

"As you can see, your Silentium Eden isn't impenetrable, if you wish to defeat me then you will have to discard that super short chant enchant magic if yours and unleash your true destructive power."

She looked as if she was about to do just that, then froze, and threw the blade I lent her onto the ground.

"There is no reason to do that. You have already proved that my condition will no longer deteriorate as I battle, have you not? I have no intentions of wasting my time like this."

I frowned, but accepted her choice, she may have misinterpreted my actions but it was also true that this battle wasn't benefiting her since I wasn't fighting her seriously.

For someone that lived her entire life believing that she would die as a result of her disease before she could live a full life, yet continued to throw herself against the dangers of the dungeon in spite of the increased risk of death, every moment of her life was precious and could not be wasted.

Even if the situation has changed as a result of my actions, it didn't mean that her mindset had changed.

The difference between the two of us was like heaven and earth. She came into the world cursed to live a short human life, while I was pretty much-guaranteed immortality as an all-powerful being.

The way she lived her life could easily be counted as 'heaven-defying' among Cultivators, but I needed to understand Alfia more and what her innermost desires for pushing herself this far to confirm my thoughts on her. This feeling in my heart… I think I'm starting to understand why all those godlike beings in other worlds find mortals so… fascinating.

An arrow flew right between the space between us, killing a Sand Devouring Wyrm just a few meters from where we stood.

"Dio! Could you send that ingredient to us?" Artemis transmitted her thoughts to me using an artifact I made her.

As expected of my second lover! The goddess of hunting can't even miss at such a distance!

Granted, the 56th iteration of [Tri-star Amore Mio] I gave her was a superb divine bow, but most of its functions were currently sealed while Artemis still used her mortal body. It could only fire energy arrows charged up by her passive divine aura at its current state, even so, to instantly kill a monster at this distance with just a bow is something I couldn't do without the aid of magic.

I waved my hand and teleported the dead mutated animal to Artemis.

Alfia raised an eyebrow, I smiled lightly and said, "Shall we head back to where everyone is? Our little battle took us quite far…"

"You may do so." The way she said it was as if she were a queen giving a command to a subject. Ah, she must have been emulating Hera, or her Familia Captain, a little bit there.

I left an illusion at my spot then silently teleported right behind her.

The fact that her senses were refined to the point where she could react the moment I was behind her was impressive. I guess that's what you get for learning to fight without 'wasting energy' in performing basic human actions like 'opening her eyes' over many years.

Even so, with Touki and magic enhancing my movements, she couldn't stop me from scooping her right up and princess-carrying her all the way back to everyone.

"Wha-!? L-let me down this instant! Pig! Swine! Pervert!"

"No way! The chance of carrying the strongest female Adventurer in my arms like this has got to worth something as bragging rights!"

Her attempts to snap my neck and poke my eyeballs out were pretty cute.

She ceased her actions the moment I arrived right in front of her sister, however…

"Amazing! I didn't know big sister was so strong! And to be carried back like that…"

"Don't say a word! Erase this moment from your mind!"

Leave it to her little sister to embarrass the most talented Adventurer of this generation.

Jason, Meteria's fiance (and Bell's future father), was already making teasing remarks at Alfia after my little performance, resulting in him being chased around the area by a furious young woman.

Ah, he's really good at running away…

"-and now we grill the meat like this…" Zald was currently cooking the dead monster Artemis killed a minute ago.

"You are… quite skilled in preparing the beast." Artemis begrudgingly praised Zald's survival/cooking skills when it came to handling monster meat.

I count that as progress towards lessening the Manhater trait.

"Airi, is everything alright?"

I noticed that Airi was casting a few glances at Alfia now even as I was reviewing my small battle with her.

"Hmm, I guess… I was just thinking that…" Airi tapped her ear, I responded to her signal by casting an illusion around us to disguise the content of our conversation from lip readers, then the main privacy spell that would prevent anyone short of a high-tier god from hearing us, "Miss Alfia reminds me of my father's friends."

"Oh, how so?"

"Cao Cao and his 'hero' group, they're…"

Airi couldn't help but compare the sight of Alfia to some of her father's 'hero' friends, or rather, the image of what they should have been.

"I can definitely see that. When compared to certain Longinus wielders in our world, she's just like them, a glass cannon with enough speed, reflexes, and skill to defeat stronger beings…"

"That's true, but I wasn't really talking about that."

"I see… so you're talking about the part where she's closer to an actual 'hero'?"

"Yeah, and also… I can see why she would destroy Orario as well."

"..."

"You talked about the survivors of the One-Eyed Black Dragon causing chaos in Orario to make themselves stepping stones for new heroes, remember? Zald's skill and Alfia's disease gave it away."

She had heard enough of the Zeus and Hera Familia's deeds, what they wanted to accomplish, and their eventual fate from me. I hadn't shied away from their flaws either, back then...

I didn't want them to judge Zald, Alfia, and a number of others when that future wasn't going to happen anymore. I hadn't said any names back then when Artemis asked me about the future, where I told them the tale of the last two members of those Familias, turning to evil in order to end the Age of Gods for the sake of birthing new heroes.

Even so, Airi had figured the rest out upon hearing Meteria's story about her disease and her sister's achievements, then recalling my remarks on the 'fallen heroes' only losing because the heroes of the Astrea, Loki, Freya, and Ganesha Familia turned it into a battle of endurance on account of their debilitating conditions.

"Yeah. That's them right there." I glanced at Zald and Alfia who was dragged into a conversation between Meteria and Artemis about romance-related topics, then I pulled Airi close into a hug, wrapping my arms around her waist as she comfortably snuggled into my chest "How do you feel about it?"

She looked up at me with her cute green eyes, then admitted, "I'm a little bit jealous. It really feels like everyone that catches your eye is more exceptional than me."

I considered how she referenced her father's rival turned friend Cao Cao and understood what was eating at her.

Alfia was a hero. She suffered from a deadly disease, with limited time left to live. She was fragile, with her life exposed to death throughout. Still, she chose to become a hero.

Airi was thinking along the lines of 'Oh no, my husband has his eyes on a real heroine! Another exceptional person is being roped into the harem! Is it still alright to be the main wife?'

Well, time to reassure her. She's still making progress in getting rid of her insecurities and this result is a lot better than before.

I poked her cheek, "That's not true. Only someone like you could capture my heart like this."

"You're just saying that."

"Uh uh. Being completely honest with myself… if it were the past me, I would have found a way to corrupt Artemis to my purposes using her unique situation for my benefit, then exploit Alfia's situation as much as I could simply because it's a hell lot easier for me to do so instead of charming them the right way."

I would have gone after every 'waifu' I desired, using their circumstances and changing them to accept who I used to be, instead of improving my own character until I became someone worthy of the affections of many different women.

It was the bog-standard harem fanfiction playbook, after all. Especially for someone that desired a DXD harem like myself… I won't deny that 'saving' maidens like Asia Argento, Valerie Tepes, Ingvild Leviathan, and exploiting many other waifu's backstories to make them trust and rely on me wasn't part of the plan.

There are plenty of self-inserts like myself that would use their OP powers and meta-knowledge to make those girls fall in love or desire them through careful manipulation of the situation, words, and action then slowly corrupt them to their way of thinking.

Though Airi has learned the ways of showing off overwhelming power and cheat items to achieve long-term societal improvements from yours truly, the only way I had 'corrupted' her was in getting her to agree to marriage so quickly. Other than that, I hadn't dared to make her change from the loving, kind, passionate hard-working girl that I had fallen in love with.

I had resolved to change myself instead so that she could love me without changing the core of who she was as Airi Dorana nee Hyoudou and who she wanted to be in the future.

My decision also applied towards any other woman that caught my eye and had been approved by my darling wife. Artemis was slowly changing as a result of fusing with her residue and her love for me. The vow we took for 10,000 years of romance and beyond was a promise for us to dedicate ourselves to one another, it was a bond that we would develop patiently over many years as we were both immortals with a different view of time.

"That's pretty scummy."

"I won't ever deny it. But right now, I'm the type of guy that trusts his heart and learns to love others just as they are."

Airi laughed boisterously, "Hahaha! That sounded so cheesy. If you actually loved anyone else that wasn't a beautiful woman or their family then you may as well be the second coming of Jesus."

I smiled wryly, "Okay, you have a point, I'll limit that to potential wives and people with the potential for great good then. I'll leave the 'saving everyone hearts' thing to those main characters that were meant to be Messiah Archetypes like Ninja Jesus then."

"Ninja Jesus?"

"Did you ever hear the Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja?"

I ended up sharing a very long and increasingly complicated story with everyone over a magnificently cooked meal.

The goddess festival largely went off without a hitch.

There was a little trouble there, nothing unexpected from a festival in Orario… okay, fine, it was pretty unique since it involved me dissing that bitch Ishtar.

How I ended up insulting her was a pretty complicated matter.

But the short story started when I stepped in when Hera dumped a cup of pumpkin juice on Freya's head and was going full 'bitch mode', I had gently admonished Hera who had then screeched a variant of the 'do you know who I am?' template response until Meteria went up and scolded her saying 'do you know who he is?'

Once it was revealed that I was the one that healed Meteria and Alfia, Hera immediately apologized and turned into a super nice MILF that I was seriously tempted to fuck because she was a hot blonde (she reminded me of FGO's Europa). But my will was strong, so I turned around and cast a simple spell to clean Freya up so that she can enjoy the rest of her festival.

And then that bitch Ishtar stirred some shit by implying some Charm ability abuse with me as a target, Hera was about to go hysterical at Freya until I snorted and honestly told everyone that Freya wasn't my type at all. Freya looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Ishtar started laughing at Freya's expression until I told the dumb bitch to shut the fuck up, called her a toad, and said that the difference between Freya and her was like that of Heaven and Earth.

Yeah… the goddess festival somehow managed to continue without me kicking Ishtar back to heaven, thanks to Artemis bringing Demeter over to smooth things out.

My first meeting with Zeus started with him laughing and toasting a goblet at wine in my honor for all I had done… and for almost started a huge catfight between goddesses. I get the feeling that he was mostly interested in the latter because of the possibility of clothing damage.

Truly, he was a man of culture.

We got into some serious talk soon after when I discreetly revealed some truths on the results of their future expeditions to defeat Behemoth, Leviathan, and the One-Eyed Black Dragon. Zeus needed some time alone to digest the idea of his entire Familia being slaughtered by the dragon and what would happen to Orario in the future, especially with the tragic resolve of Zeld and Alfia's actions.

After a couple of hours, he heard the rest of my story out and was completely on board when I spoke about the Last Hero candidate (Bell Cranel) and his achievements.

Zeus then went on to (albeit fearfully) converse with Hera (who was apparently Yandere for him) privately in order to convince her himself. Hera was in a reflective mood for the next month, a month in which I spent dealing with problems like the Ikelos Familia, various criminal groups and helping out Soma in establishing healthy Familia protocols.

I went ahead and taught both the Zeus and Hera Familia of my magic control methods, quickly getting Hera's Captain Ilithyia (also known as 'Empress'), Alfia and all their mages up to speed.

My mass-produced interspatial rings sold like hotcakes, I managed to make a method of creating interspatial rings that would work for those with the Mystery development ability, which would allow Orario's adventurers to sustain future expeditions much easier when they can just keep their supply train with them. I probably stole the jobs of many juniors within large Familia's, but at least they will never have to carry luggage again.

Alfia and Zald had gotten to Level 8 after visiting my secret realm a few times in that month. Zald, Jason and I had ended up becoming good friends when Meteria, Alfia, Artemis and Airi have started hanging out together for some reason. I hung out with Zald thanks to his cooking expertise, Jason because he was fun like Zeus and I occasionally kidnapped Uskari to join us since I needed my obligatory best friend character.

Airi and I joined in the next expedition with the two Familia's into the dungeon, with the help of my extermination and collection type magic spells (via hundreds of orbs that shoot out death beams and teleport items into my interspatial rings), I eradicated every monster and collected every piece of loot uptill the 37th floor. Past that floor we all started to 'adventure' in the dungeon properly.

I used this time to research the Falna and how Excelia was gained. Thanks to my high comprehension abilities, I managed to 'enlighten' a select few like the Familia Captains and Executives on some methods that might increase their Excelia gain.

They took my words with a grain of salt but gave it a go anyways out of respect.

Airi and I ended up sparring regularly with the strongest Familia members in the dungeon, we didn't have to worry about tiring ourselves since I had plenty of drugs restorative pills and defensive magical spells to prevent monster ambushes from harming the group.

We steamrolled through everything until we reached the 70th floor, where the environment got seriously hazardous, to the point where I had to dedicate more magic and focus towards protecting the group instead of offensive magic because they couldn't make preparations for floors deeper than this until they've seen it themselves.

Our expedition came to a stop at the 85th floor where magic resistant and magic absorbing metallic monsters started to spawn. The only way I could defeat them was by using my decently strong weapons and overwhelming magical power, even then, it was no longer safe enough to continue as I couldn't increase my firepower further without causing damage to the planet.

Once we evacuated to the surface, I went on several dates with Artemis to catch up then shut myself off in order to go through closed-doors Cultivation.

Relying on magic just wasn't going to cut it anymore.

I reached the peak of my equivalent of Core Formation/Golden Core realm after a few days. Most of the accumulated Law energies that I could safely absorb were drained from Orario and I wouldn't be able to make the next breakthrough within the city anymore.

So I teleported to the Empire, the second strongest nation in the world and started Cultivating there. I broke through to the Nascent Soul equivalent stage which reinforced my soul's ability to continue existing without a body before visiting other countries and spending a day there to make some progress on my Cultivation.

By the time Alfia and I had our semi-regular match again, she had somehow reached the peak status points in all her Level 8 attributes.

She didn't stand a chance even when I was holding back. All of my attributes had increased exponentially after I progressed through two entire realms. I could probably wrestle against one of those strong gods in my homeworld without Touki at this point.

"Hey Alfia, I've just finished preparing custom Cultivation methods for Airi, Artemis, and you. Wanna join the club?"

"You are not seriously suggesting that I rely on meditating and snorting magical drugs to increase my strength…"

"Noooo? Don't worry, my manuals include minimal closed-doors Cultivation and lots of active exercises."

"Why would you offer me this opportunity? The only other ones that you want to join you on this is… well…"

Her oddly bashful expression led her to the right conclusion. Even so, I did have other reasons for wanting her to Cultivate as I did. For the most part, I wanted to see what she could do with her insane talent, and well, I felt that she could be a worthy eternal sparring partner.

"I'm not pushing for anything at the moment. But a thought came to me… what do you want to do after the One-Eyed Black Dragon?"

"So sure of yourself, you believe victory is already at hand. As for that… I admit that I haven't thought that far. All my life, I have always decided to live with as little regrets as I have."

"Why is that?"

She looked at me like an idiot for a moment, then scoffed and smiled fondly at me.

"If I hadn't known you for your brilliance I would have thought you a fool. I never had the luxury for regrets, with this short life of mine, for my sister's weaker constitution… the only thing I could do to reduce the guilt in my heart for 'stealing' my sister's share of talent and strength in the womb was to make our short lives worth living. That is to say, I sought absolution in being a hero, a hero so great that my actions will serve as proof that we had ever existed. Even if my name was forgotten, if my deeds were to rid this world of evil and shine a light into the future then I can accept my fate with a smile."

I listened silently for a moment, then said, "Your resolve is beautiful. Part of me wishes that I can dedicate my life to a purpose like that, but I'm just too blessed in comparison! The only path for me is that of an immortal Cultivator that will achieve ultimate power."

Alfia rolled her eyes, "Had you spoken those words with any other tone then I would have gouged your eyes out. But coming from you, who worked for the betterment of this world which my sister loves… I can't find it in myself to hate someone like you."

"Oh? I thought we were well past the hate stage? Aren't we the best of friends?"

"Your wife said something about calling all your 'best friends' "fatty" in private. I like my figure just as it is."

"Same."

"Pervert. I can see why you get along so well with Zeus and Jason."

"As for the former… I kinda did help him out with his relationship needs."

As part of our plan for the future, Zeus and Hera would leave Orario to the future generations to make up for their arrogance and so that they wouldn't depend on them anymore. They would, instead, form their own nation and have travelling groups of heroes rid the world of monsters, while also helping to develop the world in better directions. I had given them a slew of secret realms and technological knowledge to keep them future-proofed.

For the nation part… I took a shortcut by stealing another nation for them to settle in while resolving Zeus's sexual needs. Namely, I took a 'short' trip to a hentai world and convinced an elf queen (he was insanely jealous of how Loki has Riveria as part of her Familia) to become his wife.

The sheer amount of work I had to put in to get him the best elf wife available that suited all our requirements (especially the sexual ones) were astronomical. And a technical virgin at that? Honestly, it would have been impossible to convince her if her husband hadn't died against the demons, without resulting in distasteful means, that is.

She got her ass fucked and trained a bit by a bastard villain but I got to her before she broke and I convinced her that becoming the wife of a god from another universe would benefit her kingdom. I then had to wipe out the demonic threat of their world, purify their entire land, bring order to several countries, free the elven slaves across the world then repatriate them all before finally constructing a grand ritual to migrate the entire damn kingdom to this world!

She's one of the good monarchs, still a little bit naive, but in any case, I had to take care of practically everything in order to make her consent to this.

As for how grateful Zeus was about it…

"I name you as my eternal friend! You can help yourself to the treasury, not that I think you need it but hey, you can take whatever you want from my Familia when this pans out!"

"Right, right, let's just hurry this up before Hera finds out. I've got the aphrodisiacs, a sealed room, and the marriage documents all prepared."

"This is the best end-to-end service I ever had… *sniff* have I ever told you that you are like a son to me? That's it! I'm adopting you!"

And so I ended up getting semi-officially adopted.

Hera was about to blow up the morning after I locked Zeus and his new hot as fuck elf queen wife in a room with Xianxia aphrodisiacs. Until I healed Zeus of his fatigue, shoved her into the same room and then drugged them all with the same aphrodisiacs again.

Turns out getting fucked by super god dick solves lots of problems.

So anyway… that sealed land near Hyazning I had set up is now home to a huge population of elves that have innate magic resistance and probably have 'better' genes than the local elves since they live longer lives and have a few more racial bonuses. Also, the girls are hentai elves, of sorts so… their neighbors are going to be surprised when an elf kingdom pops out of nowhere when the barrier drops in the next century.

And then I remember that Zeus and Hera are going to co-lead the country. Hoo boy…

"... Why are you suddenly looking particularly miserable?"

"I'm recalling a moment in my life where I was very sexually frustrated."

Fucking Zeus! She was my favorite kind of elf too! That pervy god should be worshiping me for being a man of my word. My self control was impeccable. I only started fucking like crazy when I got back to my wives despite all the pretty elves there!

Aaaaaah!

"You're still looking terrible."

"Bad memories…I regret making that promise to not touch the merch- I mean, goods. I could have took some time when making Zeus that promise!"

Blue balled filled flashbacks are not pleasant.

"Regrets huh? Could have, should have, and would have… each time humans utter these words, they grow older. Regretting a decision means cursing yourself for the things you've done. If you keep thinking back to those memories filled with regret then you will grow to become an ugly old man, if not outwardly, your heart will grow old in such a fashion."

"... I know that damn well. It's something I have to deal with especially when my memories don't fade with time. Well, in the end, it was just a small matter… your words of wisdom is appreciated. Hey, how about coming with us, Airi, Artemis and I when we're done here?"

"Back to your world and more words that I could scarcely imagine?" Alfia smiled brilliantly, "I would like that. After all, if I stay here any longer, then Meteria's child will be calling me 'Auntie', which is something I cannot stand for."

"Aww, come on, you'll love the kid!"

"I know. That's why, I want you to take me away before I do, or else I will never leave to experience life to the fullest beyond this world. Your actions here… you performed miracles, and I do not regret missing out on what you will do next."

"Is it so hard to say that you enjoy my company- ooof! Stop jabbing my sides!"

"Your wife said it was a weakness of yours."

"Gasp! Betrayal!"

Behemoth went down a month after we left Orario. Zeus hadn't needed to resort to distasteful means like conscripting 'children' from other Familia to scout for the poisonous monster with the help of my magic. I left the fighting to them, however, as this victory needed to be achieved by the hands of the natives instead of relying on my might.

Zald still sliced Behemoth in half after eating its corrosive flesh like in the story, although this time, I was around to heal him and prevent any future complications.

Alfia finished off Leviathan with her sound magic after a grueling fight at the sea.

As for the black dragon…well, it was really good at [Devouring] practically everything. Including the life of the land and the power of spirits.

I mean, Aria was pretty much plugged into the dragon, just as Artemis had been, apparently.

I pretty much nerfed the black dragon down to beatable levels by freeing Aria and restoring her power, then reversed the flow of stolen power from the black dragon back to the land.

They eventually managed to beat down the One-Eyed Black Dragon, Airi had joined the battle and gained some valuable experience, while Artemis helped out discreetly by shooting a couple of arrows to knock its aim off a little.

The Three Grand Quests were complete with surprisingly few casualties.

I helped everyone settle back down back at their new kingdom before saying my goodbyes to all my friends here. Afterward, I fulfilled my promise to Alfia and brought her along back to our world. We hadn't fully decided to progress our relationship in that direction yet, but we were both certain that we wanted to travel together.

Ah, home sweet home… my father-in-law has probably cooled off by now. Airi has kept everyone up to date so I'm sure he'll be a lot more accepting of our relationship now.

<< Index >>

ENIYA, Jan 20, 2021Report

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ENIYAWaiting for Truck-kun to Isekai me...

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Chapter 8

"The air here is filthy and these 'vehicles' are noisy."

"Have humans here truly lived apart from nature for most of their lives?"

After the initial bout of standard Reverse Isekai excitement, Alfia and Artemis started giving their honest thoughts on the current state of the world.

"Yes, I know. Truly, it's a terrible shame. Ah, don't worry, I'll be working on some things to fix this!"

I honestly had no strong feelings about the depressing state of the world after having single-mindedly pursued my goals since I was a child and then going after Airi at full-throttle. I simply didn't have time to contemplate on such matters outside of Cultivation sessions, of which, the 'inelegant' parts of modern life were but a tiny part of my life that I had to reflect on.

But the two of them were special to me, just as Airi was, and I had to make this world more suitable to their tastes. While we wouldn't necessarily be living in any singular world on a permanent basis, ensuring that all worlds we reside on for a significant period of time are fitting for my wives (and future wives) is my sworn duty as a wonderful husband.

Let's see here... I'm going to need to make silent Electric cars, other transportation methods that produce minimal 'noise', a nanomachine swarm that can consume pollution to clean up the air, ocean, and land, replant several forests…

"Mm-hmm, uh-huh… got it. If you find anything or anyone to be unsightly in your eyes just let me know and I'll handle it."

I was originally going to delegate parts of my current money-making businesses to my various 'fatty' subordinates while I worked more on the world-changing technologies, but if I'm going to quickly transform this world to suit my women then I won't be able to do it on my own.

Oh, I certainly could do it by myself, but it would make it obvious I wasn't human at all. The easiest way to do it was to just hop over to the Naruto-verse, grab the Shadow Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu, improve on those techniques and then have my clones masquerade as different leading figures paving the way for the future by rapidly releasing new technologies, policies and taking over the world while I'm at it.

But I would rather not be directly responsible for the welfare of the world when I can just delegate it to someone else like a proper powerful Cultivator. I don't particularly care about most of the world or it's people either. The purpose of their continued state of existence resides in their value to Airi, Artemis, and Alfia, whether as an outlet for them to exercise their free will, achieve their dreams, or as mere decoration for their lives.

If I was the type of scum that only cared about their appearance or as their 'novelty' value as waifus then I may just leave them on some world and go off Cultivating until I reach ultimate power, then return to that exact point in time where I left them and create an entirely new realm from scratch where I reign supreme and they can live a life of luxury as my trophy wives.

Transforming already existing worlds into 'tolerable' planes of existence for their sakes is a much more… elegant compromise.

"Wait just a minute, did you say 'handle it' in the same sentence as 'anyone'? I've heard enough stories to know that involves a lot of-" Airi voiced her concerns and continued by swiping her finger across her neck. "And I'm pretty sure you have no problems with that…"

I tried to stop myself from laughing at how cute her worried look was, "Ha...haha, come on Airi, you know I wouldn't kill anyone that isn't irredeemable trash. If they even have some hope of reforming without the use of 'distasteful methods' then I'll only beat them to an inch of their life, cripple them and then hand them over to the proper authorities."

Airi glanced at Artemis, the goddess looked back without saying a word, given her habit, that was a telltale sign that I was telling the complete truth.

"The fact that you can say all that and mean it while innocently drinking milk tea is what I'm concerned about. Please don't go overboard."

My wife pleaded with those earnest eyes that I couldn't refuse!

"Ah, you're adorable when you're worried like that…"

"Mou…"

Her worries were not unwarranted, but they were unnecessary. I was a lot less trigger happy after meeting Airi. Nowadays, I only kill people when they absolutely deserved it (I normally kill enemy combatants, who usually are too stupid to live and deserve to die for failing to see Mount Tai) or are an obvious unrepentant future threat.

I've only killed a few dozen or so people in the past year, most of them were working (or contributing) towards the destruction of Orario and the power of the law wholly sanctioned me to do just that!

Granted, the Law was synonymous with Zeus and Hera Familia at that point, and I had a great deal of say during my short stint with them, but the point was that all my actions were lauded as 'justice' in the eyes of the world.

The various charities paid for using the expensive Adamantite and Orihalcum I tore off the artificial dungeon of Knossos, my grand contributions to magic and alchemy, clandestine anti-slavery operations, and other benevolent acts done in the dark… my 'hero' credentials will be hard to dispute especially after topping it all off with my help against the Behemoth, Leviathan and One-Eyed Black Dragon.

Alfia stopped drinking her boba tea (she has a sweet tooth just like her sister Meteria) and asked a question all of a sudden, "Can you clarify on that? For example, if some disgusting swine attempted to touch me inappropriately then I should 'only' half-kill him, cripple him and then hand them over to this 'police' you spoke of?" She could certainly do that with absurd ease, even before she became a Level 9 when Artemis updated her Status upon arrival in this world.

Artemis followed up and asked some questions of her own, "I'm a goddess. I give you permission to just kill those types of men in my name!"

"Don't worry! I have anti-sexual assault enchantment spells on all of you so if anyone even tries anything they'll suffer immense pain and be unable to reproduce anymore! But if you want to kill some scum then go ahead, I'll cover things up." I reassured all my wives (and wives-to-be) that I was honoring my husbandly duty as a protector.

Airi sucked the rest of her milk tea up using her straw and then slammed the empty plastic cup onto the table, smiling sweetly while she began emitting some killing intent as an aura, "No one is killing anyone. Don't you think that level of crippling going too far? Oh my, I forgot that the common sense in fantasy-like worlds is totally different. Dio, honey, did you make sure to properly debrief them on the social mores of our world?"

I smiled confidently and said, "Of course not! Where's the fun in that? How can I miss out on the opportunity to properly introduce someone to a whole new world? If I gave them a dry run on what to expect then all there's no magic in the reverse isekai introduction experience!"

Airi stared at me before breaking out into laughter.

"Dio… you… hahaha, that's so you! You're right though, I'm having lots of fun showing Artemis and Alfia around. Hmm, hmm, I think I'm recovering my 'onee-chan' power this way... It really feels like I'm the older sister."

"You're younger than me."

Alfia is always so sensitive when it comes to her age. It's mostly due to a complex about her white/greyish colored hair, totally irrational, but I find it pretty charming myself.

"I'm several millions of years old."

As always, Artemis's straight forward innocent delivery has made my heart skip a few beats. She may not be as glamorous as Freya, Demeter, and some other goddesses I've seen, but her 'gentle beauty' type looks combined with her wide range of expressions shows so many sides of her that I love discovering more of every day.

"Shush, let me have this."

We gave Airi a moment of silence, one that she ended herself when she shouted, "Okay! Let's go meet my family! Ah, I'm still not looking forward to school tomorrow, maybe I should just skip…"

"I can send some paper clones to take our place."

"Yes, I'm saved! I love you so much"

I can now use three paper clones at the same time at 30% of my maximum power after my breakthroughs. Back then I could only make one paper clone at 10% of my power, but now, a single one of my new paper clones was stronger than the pre-breakthrough me by several times because of my Cultivation's insane power growth!

Though there will still be a deficiency here and there, I could now make full-powered paper clones of Airi, Alfia, and Artemis if the situation requires. School is obviously one of those cases where it's needed!

"Eh?! They aren't picking up!"

Airi tried to call her siblings and her mother using her phone but it seems that there was no signal from their location. This is quite odd, as her original phone was already made to connect to the Underworld and other realms, even before I upgraded it.

"Do you have a picture of your family?" Artemis asked Airi before I could make the suggestion myself, knowing what she was going to do, I settled for just double-checking the city with my senses, making a privacy barrier, and preparing some automated memory alteration spells to make our departure smooth.

"Yeah, lots. What are you going to do?"

"This."

Artemis used her power to form several Divine Mirrors, all of which were divining for my in-laws, it took a few seconds but several images showed different perspectives where Airi's younger brothers were fighting some generic trash to protect their sisters and mothers.

"Something must be nerfing your mothers since they haven't just killed the trash themselves," I remarked lightly, having a couple of ideas on how to make sense of the situation.

The only viable fighters they had were Ex, Kurenai, Zen, Shin and Mordred since they were all male. Right now, all of my mothers-in-law trapped there were in the 'mage' category, if Xenovia and Irina (and other fighters) were there then they wouldn't be in this mess. I'm also slightly annoyed by the fact that Akeno is still strictly a caster type fighter after all these years despite having the Queen piece.

"T-that orb! That's an imitation of Cao Cao's Itsutei Ratana!"

"The sexist Balance Breaker ability that negates the special abilities of women?"

I spoke out loud for Alfia's and Artemis's benefit, both of them twitching slightly at the idea of such a specific weapon existing in this world.

I made a note to not reveal the existence of a special mirror that can explode the genitals of any men (except myself) in a wide area. I had made that artifact to deal with hentai rape worlds or scenarios when I was younger and after I found this world's version of Kuroinu, yeah, not my finest moment.

"Do you two mind staying here for a bit?" I addressed Alfia and Artemis, "It'll be a lot more troublesome if people from another world interfered with this world's supernatural affairs, especially when we haven't made the right introductions. I can handle this quickly enough."

The two of them agreed, not particularly bloodthirsty enough to tag along and deal with weak enemies. Works fine for me. I've trained as a househusband for years so my cleaning abilities are top-notch! Ridding the world of these shitstains won't take more than 5 minutes.

Tracking their locations by hitchhiking on Artemis's divine mirrors was a piece of cake, turns out that Airi's in-laws were just in yet another pocket dimension with the Dimension Gap. Honestly… the whole place is practically free real estate.

Airi and I teleported right next to the main bad guy of the week that, once again, stole yet another piece of powerful magical technology right from the hands of the 'good guys'.

… People in DXD have all their cool stuff stolen with the help of spies way too often.

Good thing that everything I've given out in this world is 'trash' compared to the stuff kept in my private laboratory in yet another hidden realm of mine.

"Ho? Did someone get throu-"

The weak-ass leader's right-hand man got punched in the face by Airi and was knocked out in a single hit. The leader gaped and shouted, "I-impossible! Who are you?! How did you get into my domain? You're a woman so why isn't the replica Itsutei Ratana working?!"

"Are you stupid? My body's just a bit stronger than yours, that's all. Now then, I'm gonna beat you all until you all cry for bullying my family!"

"Airi, do you want quantity or quality?" I chimed in and asked for my wife's preference.

"Eh, you can have the elites, I'll take care of the rest of them. And please try to at least take the leader alive."

"Sure thing!"

Airi blasted towards the hordes of cloaked mooks (seriously, get better fashion designers…) and defeated everyone opposing her with a single punch, usually, she'll take down a handful of enemies as a result of the sheer might of her strikes.

"It's Airi-neesan!"

"She's back!"

"Yeah, fuck them up!"

Her siblings were already in good cheer at the sight of their big sister returning home. Watching as she turned the tide by her lonesome also played a big part in that.

"Honestly, you people should just give up targeting the Hyoudou family. Many have tried and many have failed over the past decades, one might think you have ignored all the object lessons such failures have become."

The leader's attention was drawn towards me, I shook my head with disappointment at him. His eyes were bloodshot and he was all but frothing with rage. From the looks of it, he seemed to be a Fallen Angel, but he grafted the organs, bones, and energies of other races into his body.

I would be impressed if it wasn't abundantly clear that he was just a discount Kabuto.

"A human?! What manner of Sacred Gear do you possess? Ah, whatever, I'll just pry it out of your cold dead corpse and then finish off that bitch for ruining my perfect plan."

The fuck did you just say?!

That's it! I was going to give you some face but now I'll turn your useless body into dog food!

I channeled the powers of several laws and magical energies from my core, preparing to kill him and anyone else that Airi hadn't finished off herself.

"You dare threaten this young master's wife?! You do not know the immensity between heaven and earth! This daddy will teach you a lesson in place of your father!"

"Did you miss the memo?! I'm a Fallen Angel and our Lord Father is dead!"

I smiled coldly and said, "And now I'll send you right to him. Hmph!"

My eyes lit up and I let out a cold snort.

As my cold snort echoed across the dimension, explosions began engulfing everything in sight.

The trash in front of me suddenly trembled and exploded into a pile of flesh.

"Hmph, this is what happens when you make this young master angry. Not even your father can recognize your body now. Hmph!"

Huh, snorting is kinda fun.

"DIOOOO!!! I can't believe you killed him by snorting in his direction! And didn't I say to leave him alive!?"

Ah, Airi's really angry now. Did she really think that I would let my temper get in the way of her conditions?

"Don't worry. Unlike the rest, I hadn't destroyed his soul back then! It was admittedly a close call, if I had wagged my finger instead then there would be no hope of salvaging him."

That was a lie!

I only killed them in such an undignified manner because I was actively concentrating a tiny amount of my energies to do so. If I had truly broken through two more realms then I would have been able to kill the enemies here by sneezing accidentally.

I took out a soul puppet and slapped it with a talisman, binding the dead fallen angel's soul to it. The puppet immediately takes the form of the enemy leader, "There we go, one enemy leader bound to a soul pupper. As he is, he won't be able to refuse any of your commands and will tell you what you need."

I then teleported everyone out of the collapsing artificial dimension after using my powers to loot everything in an instant. We arrived just outside the milk tea place where Alfia and Artemis were waiting for us.

All of this took some time to describe but it all happened within two minutes.

My actions earned the admiration of my brothers and sisters-in-law. Kurenai, Le Fay and Helmwige were the most appreciative of my showcase as I could easily get into the artificial dimension and back out with ridiculous ease.

With a quick custom privacy barrier set, Airi had a proper tearful reunion with her mother and the present members of her family. Asia went ahead to admonish us both in a way that made us feel a little bad for ditching everything to enjoy our honeymoon together, even then, she wasn't angry and accepted me as her son-in-law!

Yes, success!

Some of my mothers-in-law were still a bit concerned, but at least half their number had enthusiastically accepted me into the family. Most of my new siblings were happy too, but they were a bit angry for taking Airi from them so suddenly, as such, I had to compensate them with presents and sweets.

After that, it was time to introduce them to my traveling companions.

Artemis's introduction went as smoothly as possible (even if she was a bit stiff when greeting my brothers-in-law), especially when she started recounted how she met me and our subsequent adventures together.

And by together, I mean, as a trio…

"Airi, you did include all aspects of our relationship into your video messages right?"

"Well, I didn't want to surprise them yet so… I said she was a good friend? Teehee☆"

"What do you mean 'Teehee☆'?!"

Okay, this is still salvageable, so long as no one tells Issei anything then we can still keep things civil.

At some point, someone asked to clarify what Alfia's relationship was with me.

"We're good friends and sparring partners."

"You've gone so far beyond me so I don't believe I can hold the latter title any longer."

"It can't be helped. You know how Cultivation works, first one to the next realm gets ahead by leaps and bounds."

"...You really are shameless, aren't you?"

"False humility is just another form of arrogance."

From my preliminary observations, I could tell that no one really believed that we would just stay as good friends. Well, if it keeps my brothers-in-law from gawking at Alfia like idiots, then I'll take it.

The next few days passed by productively since my father-in-law was out of communication range in an expedition somewhere to assess a 'dimension frontier fortress' built to watch out for threats from another world.

Those invaders from the ExE world should arrive in around two years, I'll have to make some specialized tools to use against them when the time comes.

But for now, I would focus my efforts on this world!

I had two paper clones spending half a day at school impersonating Airi and I while we caught up with the family, the rest of the paper clones active time would go into finishing some of my local work, while my last paper clone was working on the logistics and business issues revolving getting my 'make the world more suited for my wives' technologies ready for use.

Finally, at the end of the week…

"Dorana-san…"

"Father-in-law! I bring gifts! Here, have this memory crystal showing some nice views of Demeter's Oppai!"

"You can't tempt me with-"

The crystal activated. Issei Hyoudou was tempted.

"Ah, no, the Oppai… I… Haaa! You almost got me there. Hmph! Do I look like a guy who can be swayed by any pair of breasts?"

He had taken the crystal and had his face buried in the hard-light projection of the goddess's bosom.

"You do."

"Damn straight."

"So… we good?"

He cracked his fist in an attempt to intimidate me after storing the crystal into the Boosted Gear's jewel. I can hear the resigned groan of Ddraig echoing in the room.

"Look… I did some thinking-"

"Wow."

"-Don't ruin the moment you little shit! Anyways, I don't know you, but my family trusts you and I don't believe you're a bad guy. I was in the wrong back then when I attacked you and I apologize for that. As for Airi… she's happy, with you, and that's what matters… so I won't try to separate you or anything crazy. But I'm not letting you off the hook, jumping straight into marriage is going too far!"

"I seem to recall you being engaged at my age."

"I was a year older! And the marriage didn't really happen until a few years later."

He started grumbling about having lots of work and needing to ensure peace, but all I heard was bullshit. I knew that most of it was due to executive meddling and that the in-story reason for the lack of sex was Ophis and Great Red's new desires for peace influencing his body that was made from their flesh. At least, according to Shiva back then.

"Still not hearing a good reason for not marrying your lovely daughter."

"You didn't even ask for permission!"

"Why do I need permission to prove my love to her?"

Just before we got into a philosophical argument about how love and marriage work, I felt Airi entering the room in order to stop our talks from escalating into a fight.

My eyes were on the verge of bulging out with how much I was staring at her.

"Alright, that's enough you two! Now, why don't we sit down and calmly-"

"Bwah…"

I was sounding really dumb right now.

"Asia? Did you end up drinking that age-down drug by accident?"

Unlike myself, Issei didn't just sound stupid, he was actually doing something idiotic.

"Father? What are you talking about?! It's me, Airi!"

I can certainly tell that by the large breasts attached to her relatively small frame compared to her mother when Airi was her age.

The main reason why Issei Hyoudou is confused was due to Airi's current attire.

"Hmph, unlike you, I can recognize the voice and presence of Airi instantly."

"It was just nostalgia alright?! Airi, why are you dressed up in your mother's old nun clothes?"

"Oh! I asked mom if I could make some copies of her old clothes, then I tried this on to see how I could modify it."

"You aren't thinking of joining the church faction or anything right? Even for me, letting a devil join is a little…"

"No, of course not! This is for our roleplay sex sessions!"

Airi blushed bright red as she realizes she just blurted out our bedroom activity plans. She looked to me with a helpless expression so I immediately sought out to deflect his attention unto me to save her from embarrassment!

"Airi doesn't really make a good devil so we couldn't go ahead with that 'female devil seduces the human priest' angle. So we decided to go with the 'rich playboy devil tricks an innocent nun into leaving the church, takes her as a servant and then turns her into his plaything' scenario."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... YOU ARE DOING WHAT?!!!!"

"And that's our cue to leave!"

"Dio, you idiot!"

Airi didn't have a chance to finish her scolding since I already brought her, Artemis and Alfia along to another world instantly using my world crossing spell. I could bring them all with me since I'm always tagging them with my senses or with several different spells.

Alfia was in the middle of drinking tea and wasn't troubled by the move at all. Artemis looked mildly annoyed as the sudden transportation made her miss the timing on her game console.

"My Father-in-law is mad at me again."

"Only because you had to remind him of his past like that! And where are we anyway? There's not a lot of mana in this world but it's definitely not ordinary."

Just as she finished saying those words, a discarded flyer smacked me right in the face. I removed it and read the contents of it.

"Good news, we're in a world with VRMMORPG's. Better news, it's not a death game."

I passed the flyer to Airi so that she can do a read up on this game's features.

"NewWorld Online?"

<< Index >>

ENIYA, Jan 20, 2021Report

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ENIYAWaiting for Truck-kun to Isekai me...

Joined:May 10, 2016Messages:3,413Likes Received:195,566

AN: I may just start a new thread for this story when I have the next update ready, it'll let me fit in a couple of side stories or things that didn't quite make the cut (or could happen in the future, but with other MC's taking the lead after being effected by Dio, e.g. Hachiman - Cultivator)

Chapter 9

Whew! Finally done!

Setting up our legal home in this universe, paid for by 'reappropriated' money from organized criminal entities, was pretty time-consuming! There are a lot more processes to go through and subvert to get everything sorted out without raising any kind of suspicion!

The girls had just gone around and had fun in this much happier and safer version of Japan during the day while I did most of the hard work.

It was only natural. I was the one that brought them to another world all of a sudden without giving them a head's up, hence it was my responsibility to resolve any complications that arose from it.

Besides, once I got the master bedroom properly furnished I was well rewarded for my efforts.

We spent a few days enjoying a supernatural-free universe before the main attraction of this universe would be launched. That is, the VRMMORPG NewWorld Online, the game that would be played by the cute shield-wielding girl 'Maple' as in the story "I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense".

I needed to make a lot of adjustments to the VR gear, however, to accommodate everyone's unique physiologies and power sets. Airi and Artemis were straight up not human while Alfia's mental power was directly related to her ability to cast magic, so I had to make it so that she (and everyone else) could use the equipment comfortably without any accidental activations of their powers which would destroy the town.

Funnily enough, my personal VR gear's adjustments were nothing in comparison to their modifications, as I was already used to running several independent thought processes to the point where I could just dedicate a portion of my brainpower to play the game while the rest of my soul's consciousness can focus on increasing my comprehension of laws in the meantime.

"- Every two levels, a player receives 5 stat points. On levels ending in 0 such as ten, twenty, etc. You'll receive 10 stat points instead. STR increases your attack power, carrying capacity, and HP-"

I happily gave everyone a brief run-through of NewWorld Online's mechanics from what I could remember when I watched BOFURI in my first life.

I didn't really read the web or light novel, nor did I read the manga, so certain details eluded me. I could have gotten all the information about the game by just hacking the company using a combination of nanomachines and magic, but I decided to just play the game normally like Maple instead.

Well, I say normally, but I have already gotten everyone credit cards associated with bank accounts filled with loads of cash for them to spend on in-game items.

There won't be any cash shop items that will grant combat-related benefits, but the ability to buy items that would prevent Experience Loss upon death, personal warping points, and special resurrection items that would only work outside of dungeons and events will still improve our ability to farm and travel!

Of course, cosmetic items are also a very important part of the game. Huhu…

"So does anyone here want to learn more about the build of this world's main character?"

"I think that might have been obvious by the fact that 'Max Out My Defense' is in the supposed title of the story this world is based on." Alfia rolled her eyes at my paltry attempts to tell a joke.

Airi started waving her hands frantically, "No way! No way! I'm not going to steal anyone else's build! I'm going to be a Monk that uses her fist-" And I'll have to stop her there. "Gauntlets and other knuckle-type weapons don't exist in the game."

I destroyed Airi's dream-build in an instant. She sat on the bed sullenly after throwing away her character sheet, which included a doodle of her 'character' and her planned status distribution.

"Eh... is that so? Ah whatever, I'll just copy my dad and use a greatsword. It's not like you need much talent to use it anyways…"

Alfia looked like she wanted to disagree but I shot her a look and shook my head at her. Understanding my message to not make Airi feel worse given her issues with 'talent', the insanely talented magic warrior continued the conversation with her planned build.

"I intend to spread my stats between Strength, Agility, and Intelligence equally. I have lived my life with the assumption that even a single hit could worsen my old condition to the point of no return so this 'play style' will suit me just fine."

"Perfect build! 10 out of 10 for playing Dark Souls style!"

Alfia's build will be somewhat similar to Sally's build, though it will be more balanced in favor of STR and INT instead of extreme speed. She'll need a lot of good gear to make it work, however, to compensate for that kind of status spread.

Artemis, who was seated on my lap, happily went next and spoke about going straight for the Bow and Arrow as her starting weapon, for obvious reasons, "I'll mostly spend my points in Strength and Agility, but I'll probably put a few points in Dexterity to see how that goes. If it makes no difference in performing these 'critical hits' then I can buy that Status Reset item from the Cash Shop and optimize my status points afterward."

"Nice! If the game devs don't register your awesome perfect hits as critical strikes then I'll send a complaint at them. Speaking of which, maybe I can buy out the company or insert some compulsions to add fist-type weapons in for Airi."

"You will?!"

Airi regained her positive disposition just as quickly as she lost it earlier. Ah, now that she's looking at me with hope in her eyes, I could only go through with it and influence the devs to add it.

"Anything for the woman I love." As I said those words to Airi, I leaned into Artemis and spoke softly, "Don't forget that means you too, so if there's anything you want, just tell me."

The goddess seated between my legs giggled lightly and snuggled into my chest, "I already have all I could want, don't I?" I feel her hand softly caressing my cheek, "For now, at least."

Alfia tried to appear as if she wasn't affected by the sight of me receiving more kisses but she could not escape my Cultivator 'divine senses'. I'll take that as a sign that I can start showing more blatant affection for her then.

Eventually, it came down to discussing my build, which I quickly elaborated on in great detail.

"I'm going to put everything into INT. The end."

Airi and Alfia both looked at me with a complicated expression.

"If you want to die so badly then go right ahead." Alfia simply sighed at my decision and started putting on her VR gear.

"Dio, this is a game, you can't just overpower everything with just a few spells like in real life. Game balance is a thing, you know?"

Oh Airi, you sweet summer child… if you only knew the true extent of Maple's power...

With Artemis being the only one who believed in my build, or more specifically, in my ability to overcome my limitations and thrive despite it, I decided to use the opportunity to make a bet with Airi and Alfia.

"How about this? We will all login and create our characters at the same time, then leave the starter town separately to farm on our own. Whoever comes back with the highest stats at the end of the day from the combination of leveling up, skill bonuses, and gear bonuses, will be the winner! If I lose then I'll acknowledge that my build was a dumb idea and redo my entire character concept."

The two detractors looked at each other, then nodded as if they had finished an unspoken conversation, "Challenge accepted, but we'll have to up the stakes first! If you lose then you're going to stop deliberately making my dad angry."

"For a month, tops."

"A year."

"Are you mad?! I can only restrain myself around him for a month max!"

"You… three months then!"

I accepted Airi's condition while secretly thinking of excuses to be away from my homeworld for three entire months so that I could do the right thing by behaving in a completely honest fashion around my father-in-law. In other words, I wasn't going to give up my rights to mess with him anytime soon.

"As for my request, you'll have to help me procure and deliver gifts for my sister and my nephew's birthdays until my nephew becomes an adult."

Until he reaches 15, huh?

"Will you tell me what you want for them?"

"I wouldn't be asking you to put in the effort if I wasn't so terrible with deciding on the right sorts of gifts myself."

That's not the only thing you're terrible at. Who was the person that used not wanting to be called 'Auntie' as an excuse to travel other worlds with me again?

Anyways, with Meteria, I could get her a castle's worth of sweets easily enough. She would guard her sweet stuff with more viciousness than a dragon guarding their hoard. I still remember poor Hera being forced to kowtow for a long time when she was caught stealing from Meteria's special stash...

As for the future MC (does that still apply?), I'll just make Bell Cranel some cool magic swords and armor... and get him a harem.

Not that I plan to lose this challenge.

I just want to make sure they don't get horrible gifts from Alfia and deal with her crippling inability to face her cute nephew so she can deliver those presents herself.

"Well, now that you've up the stakes, it's only fair that I adjust mine as well…"

Just as I have hoped for.

Ahahaha, you fools!

I am MC!

Accepting bets from people that are confident of their victory and winning regardless of the odds is exactly the kind of thing I was born to do!

I may not want to slap your pretty faces but now these ladies will understand what it's like to face a Xianxia MC in his element!

"If I win then, at the time of my choosing, the two of you will serve me wearing these maid uniforms for a month!"

Upon seeing just how short the skirt of the uniform was they began to 'negotiate' me down to just a week, which is a bit more than I initially planned for, but I wasn't complaining.

"What do you mean the name "DIO" is taken?!"

Fucking hell! The Jojo fans have already taken the name within the first hour of launch!

I briefly considered the idea of calling myself 'Diodora' but discarded it because that would be in bad taste given Airi's family history. I'm fine with trolling Issei alone but I draw the line on teasing with Airi.

The good nun, evil devil roleplay was consensual and had quite a bit of difference from what happened in the past, so it didn't count. Airi loved getting fucked roughly and the slave-play we enacted anyway so there was no problem so long as everything is kept to the bedroom.

I considered using other Jojo related names but then decided on a name that wouldn't exactly fit my character.

"Let's go with [Orion]. This is for believing in me, Artemis."

I quickly chose the Stave as my starter weapon, which increased my INT by 28 and STR by 9.

HP: 40/40

MP: 266/266

[STR 0+9] [VIT 0] [AGI 0] [DEX 0] [INT 100+28]

The starter town was kind of crowded when I arrived, even so, it was easy to spot Airi, Alfia and Artemis given how beautiful they were in comparison to everyone else.

The game used our actual appearances with some leeway given through the use of cosmetics to change our hair and eye colors and to replicate the effects of certain kinds of makeup (or magical flair effects).

"You all went with your names? Mine was taken by the Jojo fans."

Artemis laughed and hugged me after accepting my friend request, "Haha, poor darling. There, there, you can try to use 'Dio' in another game instead. Still, I think 'Orion' is a wonderful name."

My lovely goddess had already read and learned about her various counterparts, hence her appreciation of my choice.

Airi and Alfia dashed out of town the moment we agreed to get the competition started.

As for me? I was currently imitating a crippled man trying to escape from a monster by pushing myself forward with a long stick.

Replace 'crippled' with a big fat 0 in AGI and the act of escaping with the equivalent of using physics to move faster than a dying dog.

"... Asking for help isn't against the rules. Artemis, can you please carry me out of town and drop me off in that direction?"

"I would love to!"

So this is how Maple feels like when she's getting carried by Sally!

Artemis eventually dropped me in the middle of a forest and went away to farm on her own. She may not be part of our competition, but she was certainly going to enjoy this advanced VR world that managed to capture so much of nature's beauty.

"Oh ho? An insect flying in my direction? You dare to approach me?! [Force Bolt]!"

It would appear that the initial spells were somewhat randomized for those that chose Staves as their weapon. I had seen some beginners (like me) using fireballs and icicles to attack, so it was easy to guess that other players going with a magic build would get an elemental magic spell.

My beginner spell had no elemental alignment, which meant that I wouldn't suffer from any elemental resistance-related problems, nor would I benefit from any elemental weaknesses. It cost 5 MP to cast [Force Bolt] and since it was a weak spell, it had no serious limits or long cooldowns attached to it.

The Giant Bee was killed instantly by my overwhelming magical power.

[Skill [Giant Killing] had been acquired. Your level has risen to 2]

[Giant Killing]

During times when you have more than four stats, other than HP/MP, lower than the battle opponent, stats other than HP/MP will be doubled.

Skill Requirement

Subjugate a monster alone, with four stats (other than HP/MP) higher than your own.

I managed to get one of Maple's bullshit skills that effectively doubles my INT status against every opponent, in other words, it's free double damage.

As for the loot drops, I managed to pick up the standard enemy loot and a rare piece of equipment!

Suddenly, I sensed more enemies incoming, so I quickly put it on and started firing off more Force Bolts, crushing a handful of monsters by careful targeting and using my extensive combat experience to predict their movements.

Good to know that the enemy A.I. is still dumb as usual.

I ended up with a full set of thematic rare gear that boosted my HP, MP, and INT. I looked kind of ridiculous for wearing a mix of forest and insect-themed gear, but hey, so long as there are good stats I don't care how I looked.

After an hour of walking in a random direction, I got to Level 12 and had acquired a few skills from killing monsters non-stop.

[Absolute Arcane Might]

Multiplies INT by x2. Required points to increase [STR][VIT][AGI] multiplied by 3.

Skill Requirement

Kill monsters continuously using only magic without receiving any damage.

[Stave Proficiency I]

Acquired Skills: [Arcane Strike]

Skill Requirement

Repeated usage of Staves to deal magic damage.

[Expensive Tastes]

Halves Gear Bonuses for equipped items with a rarity of [Uncommon] and below, if the rarity of equipped items exceeds [Rare] then multiply Gear Bonuses by x1.5. If equipped items belong to an [Unique Series] then Gear Bonuses are multiplied by x2 instead.

Skill Requirement

Acquire more than 10 rare items within an hour.

[Counter Magic]

If the MP used in a magic skill is greater than the combined STR value of your opponent then the attack is negated and repulsed. Also, the magic skill used will do double damage to your opponent, if it connects.

Skill Requirement

Negate over 100 projectiles (physical or magic) using your magic skills before it reaches you.

The last skill on my list made me wish I had that in real life. I could spam an insane amount of god-tier spells with my nearly inexhaustible pool of magical power, the only thing I was limited by was my knowledge of even greater spells and my maximum output, the latter of which had risen considerably once I broke through two whole great realms in my Cultivation.

If I had [Counter Magic] in real life then I could easily negate the attacks of several gods all at once… hold on, this might be possible…!

If some random force of nature or a magical accident created by some Dragon Lords from a backwater world can somehow transmigrate 'player characters' from a VRMMORPG with D&D mechanics ramped up to eleven (+ P2W bullshit) along with their 'World Items' (bullshit lore included) then there's no reason for me to be incapable of replicating and improving on the phenomena myself!

Of course, I would have to modify it so that it would only 'add' the in-game stats and effects to my person, without weakening my body in any way. It should be possible considering my bullshit innate physique combined with Essence of the Blank. The difficult part will be in adapting it to my loved ones, whose supernatural abilities all differ from one another.

"At Level 12 my base INT has gone up to 135, with Gear bonuses bringing it all up to 198-" My lucky drops consisted of a lot of gear that primarily increased INT, with a few increasing my MP pool and providing a slight MP regeneration boost, all of which gained further bonuses thanks to [Expensive Tastes], "-[Absolute Arcane Might] doubles my INT that number permanently along with my MP pool, with [Giant Killing] bringing my effective INT up to nearly 800."

The only thing that hadn't dropped for me is a new stave, which, unfortunately, has become a bit weaker due to being a [Common] rarity weapon as a result of [Expensive Tastes].

Hmm? The ground appears sullied by 'corruptive energies', could this be a dungeon?

This seems like a good place to solo a boss. But first, I've got to do some shopping!

I used my Cash Item to place a personal teleportation point right in front of the dungeon then warped right back to the starter town. Heading right towards the magic shop, I sold most of the pricey vendor trash and monster drops for more currency, then purchased every Skill that I was eligible for.

There were skills like [Cover Move] that didn't have any stat requirements, beginner elemental spells hadn't required any either, although their power was dependent on INT so if you were going full warrior there was no point in learning them anyway.

The most useful skills that I had acquired were healing skills, traps and barrier skills, buffs, debuffs, and then the new AOE and single target damage spells. I bought a [Rare] grade stave, the most expensive piece of equipment with no effects on it (trash), and equipped it to further boost my INT while benefiting from the [Expensive Tastes] skill.

After buying hundreds of MP potions I teleported back to the entrance of the dungeon.

"[Tainted Forest of the Faeries], sounds like a great place to get magic boosting items."

I had to fight my way through a forest of trees where [Tainted Faeries] and other such monsters would frequently ambush me. As I had more than five different barrier skills, all of which absorbed damage dependent on my INT score, I could simply subsist on a single magic barrier at all times and rotate them for a different barrier during cooldown periods.

These spells may not be as good as Maple's raw defense but it was more than sufficient in delaying my enemies until they got a face load of my DPS spells. The new spells I purchased all had cooldowns of various lengths, but since there was no limit on Skills I could simply just buy them all and rotate casting patterns according to my needs much like my defenses.

Uwah… so this is what it feels like to be a mediocre magic turret.

I never had to fight like this in the real world since I could just spam spells that could burn a hole down to the Earth's core and my enemy's souls like nobody's business.

Being forced to rotate between weak spells is a pretty novel experience for me.

The final boss of the dungeon was a corrupted faerie queen, which was, of course, accompanied by legions of mob monsters. Those mob monsters were also shielding the boss, which meant that there were two phases to the battle.

If it was a party of players then the optimal strategy would be for the mage to spam AOE skills repeatedly while having everyone else tank the monster horde and the attacks of the boss monster harassing them under the safety of their barrier for the first half of the fight.

But for me? A first-time VRMMORPG player playing the game normally as a glass cannon?

This was just free EXP.

"[Explosion!]"

I don't know which of the devs is the 'genius' that made a 'joke skill' which utilized all of the player's MP to cast 'medium fire damage' with a bad scaling to INT in return for an AOE that changes depending on the MP used, but I was seriously tempted to Isekai the individual to Konosuba just so that he can fully understand the glory that is [Explosion] magic!

How dare they make [Explosion] magic so sub-optimal!

It's too bad for the devs that I, the player [Orion], has maximized my Intelligence score so that even a 'joke skill' can wipe out monsters within my level range!

I leveled up three levels up to Level 22 by wiping out everything and taking most of the boss monster's health along with its mobs.

[Skill [Grand Magic] had been acquired.]

[Grand Magic]

Triples the AOE of all INT dependent skills for no additional MP cost.

Note: Friendly Fire is still enabled.

Skill Requirement

Defeat over a hundred monsters within 5 levels of you using a single AOE spell.

I added the rest of my points to INT, used several MP potions while the boss was still performing its second phase animation, then fired my strongest single-target spell, [Lightsworn Ray], at the boss, my mouth already moving to cast the next spells on my list-

"EH!? It died?!"

Okay, I kind of expected the boss to be tougher than that, but it still died from a single magic skill like every other monster!

Yui and Mai had the right of it. Putting everything into your damage-dealing status works!

[Skill [Spell Duelist] and [Vanquisher of the Corrupt] had been acquired. Your level has risen to 23]

[Spell Duelist]

When facing against a single opponent, any single-target magic skill inflicts double damage.

Skill Requirement

Defeat a dungeon boss with a single instance of damage.

[Vanquisher of the Corrupt]

Halves the effect and duration of debuffs.

Skill Requirement

Defeat the [Corrupted Faerie Queen] within 2 minutes.

Mmn, yes, the sweet taste of level up's and achievement perks…

This game is kinda fun.

No, scratch that, I'm actually having a lot of fun even though I've been playing as a solo character thus far!

While I do want to transpose the Skills of the game world into real life for practical purposes, being able to start from scratch and work my way back up to the top in a fantastically crafted world like this fills me with a great sense of pride and accomplishment.

Even if I failed to assimilate the perks of my game avatar I would still be satisfied with this experience!

I shook my head and decided to shelve the project for a bit. This is a game, I should be having fun instead of just seeing as a way to gain power.

After I win our 'bet' I will take my women to all the scenic places and to enjoy all the best foods available here!

"Now then, it's LOOT TIME!"

I rub my hands greedily before opening the reward chest.

"Yahoo! Unique series!"

[Living Wood Stave of the Magic Forest]

[INT + 40]

[Nature Essence Growth]

Skill Slot -

[Shimmering Robe of the Forest Sage]

[INT +22] [VIT +8]

[Major Magic Skill Costdown]

Skill Slot -

[Faerie Queen's Ring of Promise]

[INT + 20]

[Major MP Regeneration]

Skill Slot -

I quickly equipped all the items before dwelling into its effects. [Nature Essence Growth] appeared to be like a downgraded version of Maple's [Destructive Growth] effect, instead of getting stronger upon destruction, it looks like I'll need to feed my new stave herbs, vegetables and fruits with unique effects for it to improve.

The robe's effect was just straight out great since I wouldn't have to worry about ever needing to add points into MP for overly costly spells anymore. My MP only increases by 2 per INT point added into it, until I discover a skill that changes that, it isn't going to grow dramatically higher unless I invested points into it like Mii had done in the series.

As for the ring… I found myself staring at it for over a minute. It was beautifully crafted and based on the description, it was clearly an engagement ring. Even though I knew that this was just a game, I couldn't help but think about what might have happened in the boss monster's lore.

Did the Faerie Queen ever get to marry the one that gave her this ring? Was she corrupted to the point where she killed her own fiance? She must have surely been in pain this whole time...

I was sure that it was a tragic story. A story that I couldn't help but think over as I thought over the kind of horrible things that could happen to the women I love.

"I won't ever be complacent in protecting all of you. Airi, Artemis… you too, Alfia."

I would have to seriously scout out more worlds that would be safe for solo exploration and Cultivation in case I ever need a dramatic training arc to power up enough if we ever ran into someone too powerful to defeat.

Retreating temporarily and taking advantage of the cheating time adjustment effects of my World Crossing spell would be a perfectly legitimate strategy for beating surprise boss-tier enemies.

I exited the dungeon and chugged a few MP potions down, restoring my MP to the maximum.

"Well, I think I've finished farming for now, but I might as well clear out this forest one more time."

I looked around to make sure that no one was looking and then started to chant.

"Darker than twilight, darker than flowing blood. Crush the torrential flow of time and purge this world of light! [Explosion]!"

The forest didn't stand a chance under the combined might of my improved MP pool and AOE multiplier skill. The entire area which I had farmed for over an hour earlier in the day was completely reduced to a charred crater after the cataclysmic explosion had erupted.

I leveled up once more and teleported straight back to the town, innocently ignoring the gawking players that had just witnessed the first proper 'Explosion' of the game.

Hehehe, that felt good. I would never chant chuuni bullshit incantations in real life because of how inefficient or unnecessary they are to my spells, but in this universe where I had no enemies or potential threats that could watch over me in a higher realm, I could afford to indulge a little bit.

Everyone else returned to the starting town a few hours later to see me leisurely reading through some purchased books from the town's library.

"That explosion was caused by you, wasn't it?" Airi saw through me in an instant.

"Guilty as charged. I suppose the forest will just have to grow back upon the nightly reset."

"I visited the area some time ago and came across accessories like these." Alfia showed me an [Uncommon] accessory, "You didn't even bother to collect your spoils?"

"I didn't need any of that low-level stuff."

"Spoken like a true first-class adventurer."

Alfia and I had a mutual understanding on that point given that the only loot that mattered to us back in the dungeon was the high-class loot. While I had gathered thousands of magic stones up to and past the middle-floors, most of the loot simply couldn't be compared to the deeper floors.

I was inevitably the victor in our little competition and the pair had resigned themselves to serving me in a maid uniform. They were, at first, thinking they could get away with it since we would be playing NewWorld Online for some time. But then I reminded them that they agreed to serve me 'at a time of my choosing', so they couldn't weasel out from the bet anytime soon.

I brought everyone to a place called [Cafe Radish] in the starter town, sat us down somewhere, opened up the virtual menu that sprang forth from the table and purchased one of every dessert. I could already see the waitress preparing to bring over the stacks of cake and sweets, the total cost was well over 10,000g, which barely made a dent in my big fat in-game wallet.

"The ambiance is nice and all but… doesn't that seem out of place." Artemis pointed at the side of the table next to the wall, where a very typical Japanese styled holder for tissue papers and condiments were located at.

"Though the restaurant is similar to the kinds I would expect in Orario it seems that certain details have been neglected," Alfia remarked as she looked around the place.

"I'll take a screenshot and send it to the support team then. Somehow I get the feeling that they don't mind losing a bit of immersive-ness in return for familiarity." Most of the player base was Japanese, after all.

"These are your orders." The friendly waitress NPC dropped by and laid over 10 different plates in front of us.

"Oh wow, they look so real!" Airi's eyes sparkled with delight, Artemis was similarly amazed by how realistic the desserts looked.

Alfia looked very much like her sister right now that there were delicious sweet treats in front of us. Even my usually severe sparring partner and friend have an adorable, girlish side when it comes to things like cake.

"Please enjoy!"

"Thanks!" "Thank you."

Airi and I responded instinctively in a very standard Japanese manner.

Artemis looked slightly discomforted by the presence of NPCs, her ability to detect lies of mortals worked fine for other players but didn't work against NPCs so it made sense for her to instinctively think 'unknown entity' despite knowing what they are.

Alfia was the first to take a bite out of the cake slices.

"This is delicious!" She exclaimed with excitement after the first bite.

"You started already? Yosh, my turn! Mnn, this is good!"

"Indeed. These cakes aren't any worse than the cakes I bake myself."

I had to admit, I was impressed. I would need to copy and research their advanced technology that can reproduce a human's sense of taste in such a manner more deeply!

"It's a step below that of divine dishes, but nonetheless, I agree. This is quite a delight!"

Artemis also enjoyed the selection of desserts, though her comment reminded me that I couldn't rest on my laurels upon the path of cooking, as there was still an even higher realm of cooking that I needed to reach!

Hmm? What was that about a candlelight dinner under a starry sky?

Though my body and senses have been limited by the game, my comprehension and processing ability is still far beyond that of normal beings. Even from here, I can read the lips of other players through the window while carrying a conversation with everyone.

I had, fortunately, managed to get the location out of the two male players as they spoke to one another before they moved away from my field of vision.

"Hey, there's a place I want to check out, we'll have to get there by midnight in-game time however so let's stay on for a bit more."

It took traveling through the forest and into a giant tree stump for all of us to be teleported into a special area. It was as if we were transported right up into the air, held up only by a giant tree trunk, floating rocks and some magical giant leaves acting as a bridge.

The sky was transformed into an otherworldly star-filled canvas, in the center of the giant tree stump was a smaller stump acting as a table, with two wooden chairs placed on opposite sides of the table. There were unlit candles, two empty wine glasses and dinner plates on the table, which was illuminated by many orbs of lights attached to the elevated floor.

"Waaa! It's so pretty!"

"Hmm, not bad."

"It's artificial but there is a sense of beauty to it."

Airi, Alfia and Artemis were all adequately enjoying the place I brought us to.

"Apparently, something will happen when the seats are filled. Since there are four of us, let's take turns. Airi, Artemis, why don't you two go first?"

The pair agreed without a second thought and sat down, starting the show where the wine glasses flew up into the air and were filled with a black liquid by two bright stars above.

We all observed the wine glass as it landed down and transformed into a colorful glowing drink that appeared just like the starry sky. The show hadn't ended there and the candles lit up abruptly, fiery wisps formed and stretched out towards the dinner plates, condensing itself into three different colored glowing orbs.

Reading off the menu window that just appeared, it seems that the dish and drink combination was titled [The Little Sky].

"What is this…?"

"Hehe...it's so soft!"

"It's like I ate a strawberry, mandarin orange and apple all at once."

"Can flavors really interact like that?"

Airi and Artemis started with the glowing orbs, the latter was surprised by how odd yet delicious the meal was.

"As expected, if they can perfectly replicate the taste of ordinary desserts, then the developer team could also create new artificial flavors." I nodded appreciatively at the sight.

Alfia glanced at me oddly, and smiled a little, "Hmm? This is the first time I've seen you look genuinely impressed."

I shrugged and grinned, "There's always a bigger fish. I know that I still have a long way to go before I master everything in existence. I'm still far behind in terms of technology, so it's only natural to give credit for where it's due. And what are you talking about? Aren't I constantly impressed by the loveliness of all you ladies everyday?"

"Even if that were the case your unceasing perverted lust detracts from it-"

Alfia and I chatted a bit together as the pair continued to eat their dishes. When the two tried the drink both their hair colors changed into rainbow colors! The colors kept on changing and I used the opportunity to imagine them both with different hair colors, only to come to the conclusion that their natural ones suited them the best.

Once they were done, Alfia and I took our turn and sat down at the dinner table.

Like Airi and Artemis before us, we enjoyed the unique taste of [The Little Sky], as for myself, I had a little moment of enlightenment and felt as if I knew how to take my cooking to the next level.

As expected, my insane comprehension abilities were yet another hallmark of a true Xianxia MC!

"So what did I get?"

"Glowing hair like those two."

"Darn it, I wanted to try for the sparkling eyes like those Cultivators. At least you managed to get them."

Two hand mirrors materialized after we drank from the wine glass just as it did for the previous pair.

"Haha, I look funny as hell!"

"Is it me or is his hair sparkling more than ours?"

"Let's find out!"

I felt Airi and Artemis fussing over my hair a moment after.

Alfia watched us with a mix of confusion and something else, "Honestly, this is ridiculous."

"But it's not as if you don't enjoy it. What we've done today is pretty much all in the name of meaningless fun, so how does it feel, to take a step back and just enjoy life like this for once?"

The hero who had used to fight to make every second of her sickly life matter fell into deep contemplation, and then finally nodded, "It's not unpleasant, once in a while…"

"Mm hmm…"

"What are you looking at?"

"Your enchanting glittering eyes."

Alfia startled, crossed her arms, huffed, and turned around in her seat within the span of nine seconds. We all ended up giggling at her reaction. I could spot the small smile she hid on her face but stayed silent and allowed her to keep her peace.

We spent the next couple of days exploring the first floor of the game together, completing quests and occasionally battling against other players in PvP combat. Looking at a few online threads, it looks like our party of 4 has become a little famous.

I spotted Maple in the starter town after finally making her character, sometime before the first event would begin, just as in canon. Ah, she really was adorable, cute, and innocent.

"Let's visit another universe before coming back here to participate in the event. We can pop back to our homeworld, later on, hopefully, Airi's dad has cooled off and is willing to be reasonable."

"Who's fault is that again?"

I ignored Airi's jab and continued, "Anyways… the universe where we are going into has a lot of rules, and I mean, lots of them. Artemis shouldn't be using her full divine power where possible, Airi would probably count as a 'Phantasmal Species' there, so I'll need you both to put on some magical artifacts that will disguise your power there."

"Is there any particular reason for going to this universe?" Alfia started asking the right questions.

"Good starter question. Simply put, it depends on when we arrive at the timeline. There are countless timelines in this universe, but some of them are 'culled' and cease to exist if humanity risks destruction or stagnation in the future as a result of a culmination of 'wrong' choices." The Nasuverse is as harsh as expected, "We'll be going into a timeline that would cease to exist by the year 2050 for reasons unknown. If we arrive there past the 'Quantum Timelock', and I'll get to that later, then it's too late to change things. We should just take what we can and save whoever we want."

I let everyone think about it for a minute, then started elaborating more on the nature of the 'Root' and the world's mechanics. I also spoke about various timelines like the Notes, Fate/Extra and FGO ones to hammer in the fact that we aren't in the position to save the entire world when the universe itself wants to erase everything.

This was, admittedly, a way for me to help them get used to the fact that I couldn't (or wouldn't) necessarily resolve everything myself (and hopefully, won't have to commit to full-time heroics in the future), especially when one considers the sheer scale of the various multiverses and powerful entities out there.

"Continuing on, should we arrive before the 'Quantum Timelock', however, then we should investigate and see how we can get the timeline back in order. Unless, of course, we have to commit a great evil to fix things. In that case, it may not be worth it to keep a world that requires an atrocity to keep surviving alive, and we should cut our losses by acting as if it's a lost cause."

I personally liked the sound of that plan, but of course, Airi and Alfia were unhappy about it. Artemis had a more, larger view, and could accept it even if she wasn't entirely content with it.

It's a tough thing to balance. I need them to be a bit more realistic so that I don't get dragged into commitments where I end up biting off more than I can chew. On the other hand, I want them to remain firmly as optimists and keep true to their innately good natures.

"Now then, as for this world, this is a bit of a tough one to figure out. It's a one-way trip since I can't visit the same timeline without drawing attention to the 'Root' so listen closely. The first major point in deviation I can decipher is the lack of a fourth and fifth Holy Grail War taking place in Fuyuki City, instead, there seem to be many Grail Wars-"

<< Index >>

ENIYA, Jan 20, 2021Report

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Coleray,