The time had come, in a place labelled as the 'New World', in a particularly dark and secular location resided a gargantuan dungeon consisting of ten underground floors. All are ruled by supreme beings with powers akin to gods.
Such a being was sitting in his throne room on the deepest floor. Watching attentively as a golden screen in front of him spawned with a spin icon, waiting.
The sacrifice had already been given.
'But according to the screen, Horus, we could get a refund if its master is not able to accept the booking. He said it would be an hour at most... it should be about time. If not for this screen in front of me I'd think we got scammed into sacrificing a powerful item'.
The lich sighed and watched as all of his powerful floor guardians reunited kneeling in front of him. Closest to the throne knelt a blonde lady in maid clothes with a calm countenance.
'Sending Solution is the most optimal choice given her 'settings', it is understood that not more than the customer can cross that gate from this world into theirs... if not, I wouldn't be sending her on her own'.
He had already tried all possible strategies to try and convince Horus to take somebody else alongside Solution, all for nought. But he still was extremely curious about what all of this was about for one simple reason.
'The writing of that screen is written in Japanese... we have only been in one village ever since we arrived in this world and the Hiragana and Kanji are nowhere to be seen'.
It made everything worth investigating.
"The gate should appear anytime soon. Listen well, Solution. Prioritise your security at all times".
"Thanks, Ains-sama, I won't disappoint you" the kneeling lady answered with the utmost respect and devotion regardless of what her fate would be once she crossed that gate, she may not be able to return ever again.
"I know you won't. Take this".
I gave her something that looked like a pill, it was an elite item connected to me.
"If you perceive danger, shatter it… it will send a signal to me and give you enough time to manoeuvre"
She nodded and took it 'into' her body, feeling slightly more assured.
I'm afraid even this item may not be very efficient. If the place this gate is going to take her is another space altogether, I won't ever receive that signal. But the explosion caused by it will still give her enough time to flee given her capabilities.
"Nazarick. Until we have discovered the intentions of this mysterious deity... we will postpone the exploration of the new world!".
"HA!" All floor guardians heeded.
"We don't know what is going to happen once that gate opens so I want all of you on guard and ready for a confrontation".
"Yes!"
"Ains-sama, should we try a full-scale invasion?" The guardian of the 7th floor, Demiurge, suggested craftily. Do you think I hadn't already thought about that?
"Without any information, it is impossible to scheme with hostile purposes. Supposing this Horus can open a gate between worlds for something as rudimentary as a 'massage' it is safe to assume this master of his is not simple. This is merely a recognisance mission… get as much information as possible about the other party, Solution. Location, their numbers, their powers, their races, their natures... if they're wicked evil or pure saints. The language they speak, the language they write, I want to know everything-".
*WHOOSH!!*
"It is time".
We were in the deepest level of the dungeon but there were still some of my NPC outside guarding. Through a communication scroll, the leader of the Pleiades, Sebas Tian, spoke to me in a hurry.
!!!
"A-Ains-sama, the skies!"
"Huh?"
"There is an eclipse-"
"Eclipse?"
"The moon... no, it can't be... that is not the moon. What is it?!"
This man has literally no emotions... if he's shocked then something really important must be happening up there.
"Everyone, we're going to the surface!".
Using a teleportation spell it took no time to reach the surface and what we saw drew shock and awe. The sun was black and had darkened the world underneath it, with nothing but a golden blazing ring around it. That may have shocked the floor guardians, but it wasn't enough to shock me... no, what shocked me was the golden eye in the middle of it, looking at us.
[Your sacrifice to the God of the Sun has been accepted].
*RUMBLE!*
A beam of golden light shot from that eye farther away from us than the very horizons, crashing heftily in the middle of the surface mausoleum. I was initially worried, thinking this was some sort of holy attack but upon glancing at Shaltear, she was okay... no holy elements in it, and it wasn't even an attack.
We covered our eyes until the ray receded and what remained was a golden door surrounded by a shiny golden floor that made you feel you were stepping on the surface of the sun.
The heat and warmth emitted by it felt cosy. All my floor guardians stood in front of me on guard but we could feel no threat whatsoever coming from that door.
'Ray Lux' was written on the door in Japanese Katakana, sort of how one would label each room in a family home, this is a standard Japanese home door!
"Solution" I stated and she walked forward towards the door.
"Ains-sama, I'm going now".
The maid walked forward and as she approached the door, it opened on its own showing a white world on the other side. I nodded towards Albedo who had been looking at me and she tried to step into the gate.
"I can't go, Ains-sama... there is an invisible wall stopping me".
[Intruders are not allowed in the God's chamber].
**
**
Solution stopped in her tracks, the world was completely white. She looked back and the gate back to her world was still there. Once she turned back around, there was another door exactly like the first one.
'Security... these gods are quite thoughtful'.
Her gaze went up and she saw a golden writing that was barely visible in the white world.
[Time remaining: 1:00:00...]
[Session Quality: X2]
She opened the second door clenching that pill she received in her hand, ready for anything. The first thing she sensed upon entering was a smell.
!!!
It was a delicious smell, an odour strong and sweet enough to trigger her hunger. The whiteness gave way to a warmly lit room with light brown walls, frames and a white ceiling that -by her standards- looked rather small yet cosy.
Three individuals sat in front, in the middle of the room, looking at her with different expressions, her whole focus settled on them.
The boy in the middle had a neutral gaze, he had dark skin, pitch-black short hair and golden-slitted eyes that made her recall that eclipse back on top of Nazarick. It had to be him, he was the god, but...
'A kid...?'
She shook her head and thought better than to judge someone by their appearance. Her eyes then drifted to the next, the one sitting to his left, arguably the most majestic out of the three.
The beauty of this woman could easily cause a heart attack in the common man. Her mere presence irradiated power, she sat taking the boy's hand into her own while her tails giggled in the back. She had ears that resembled a fox.
'One, two, three...' she counted them all, 'Ten golden tails...?'
Upon noticing her gaze, the gorgeous lady giggled and whispered something to the boy's ear, he just nodded.
The last to his right, a dark-skinned bombshell, with silver hair tied in a bun and bunny ears. She may not have looked as breathtaking as the 'werebeast' sitting to the left, but no doubt she was the most powerful or at least that's what she could feel.
She noticed the woman's eyes were just like the boy's and realised that perhaps she was the real deity in this room and the boy was just her son or little brother.
"Analised enough?~" The woman with tails began with a giggle.
"Excuse my rudeness, I was just awed" Solution stated, bowing curtly.
"It is understandable, welcome" The boy stood up and approached, obtaining her focus.
'So he's the one after all...' Solution thought.
"I'm Solution Epsilon, you may address me as Solution. I come at the behest of the Tomb of Nazarick in the name of my noble master and supreme being, Ains Ooal Gown".
For their part. Ray, Elysir and Yasaka also analysed this lady but they couldn't find anything noteworthy in her other than her attire. She was a maid for sure but her attire also resembled an armour.
'This is what you call a battle-maid?'.
"Haha~"
"…?" His smirk made the maid frown.
The three of them laughed a bit and that further incensed her. He took her hand and kissed the back of it, Solution shivered a bit but remained stoic; she noticed Ray was wearing gloves.
"I understand your concerns but let's not start with the wrong feet. My name is Ray Lux, I'll be your therapist today. These are my assistants: Elysir and Yasaka. There is no need to be so uptight, Solution. You came for a massage, not for a diplomatic meeting".
She then understood the motive of her laughter, certainly... she hadn't come today with the utmost intention of receiving a massage... this was a reconnaissance mission.
"My apologies. Was I perhaps too polite?~" She recalled her hand, not after rubbing his a few times and dropped her polite behaviour, not her guard. Solution then nodded towards Yasaka and Elysir respectively.
"Just a bit but as I said, I understand you. Is it your first time getting a massage?" He indicated for her to sit down on a nearby bench and she did so.
"It is, I'm frankly lost on what the procedure is so please bear with my ignorance~"
"You don't need to worry, as young as I look, I'm an expert".
"Aren't you too young to be a therapist?"
"I believe neither of us looks our age~".
Solution's eyebrow flinched but her smile remained.
"What age do you think I am?"
"The age where beauty most flourishes for sure".
"Oh my, how galant~ I hope your hands are as skilled as your tongue, Mr God of the Sun~".
He laughed and approached her just slightly... enough for her to feel his presence.
"You may find my tongue more skilful than that but that's a tale for another day~"
!!!
That comment alone sent a goosebump throughout her body, it shattered the tenseness of her eyebrows and had a slight grim show in her beautiful countenance, a sight that put both Yasaka and Elysir in a brief state of alert while Ray stood up and headed towards the bed.
While he did so, Solution's eyes followed him enthraled. She seriously resisted the urge to lick her lips as that would have been a dead giveaway.
'Oh my, Boy... if only those two were not here... fufu~ I can eat you whole in one piece, you should not be tempting me like this~'.
Although she didn't drop her guard, at the very least she didn't feel scared. She couldn't sense animosity or killing intent coming from the trio, only cautiousness.
'This tanned Goddess is the most powerful followed by the one with bunny ears… then there is him who seems to be the youngest and the weakest. But the two of them are following his orders. Is he concealing his powers? He says neither of us looks our age. That means he knows mine… and he's also way older than he looks. Interesting~ I want to ask questions but the mood isn't right'
"Yasaka, please give her the robe, you may get changed in the bathroom".
"This way~"
The kitsune led Solution to the bathroom where she was given a white robe. The beauty watched an assortment of gadgets that she could not recognise. Heaters, toilet, sink, and even the bathtub.
"If you don't mind me asking. What are you, Lady Yasaka? I have never seen a werebeast with ten tails" Solution tried but she wasn't enthusiastic about getting an answer.
"That's a secret, sweetheart~" Yasaka giggled and didn't say a word.
Solution smiled in return but inwardly irritated, she wore the robes which she felt were certainly comfortable and came out of the room where she was beaconed by Ray to lay down on the bed; she did what she was told.
"We have one hour, I'll perform a simple back massage. Would you mind your back exposed?" The therapist asked.
"I don't mind back and front, Ray. My supreme being sacrificed something very valuable for me to be here, please have no qualms in giving me your best possible service"
"Oh? Sure~ I can tell just by looking you perform a bit of manual labour so I'll perform aromatherapy for you with olive oil it is to relieve tension and stress and to improve your mood as well, enjoy"
"Please do as you must".
Solution lay down on the bed that was beyond comfortable a bit expectant although she may not admit it. Ray put her arms at either side of her body and closed her legs together, when everything was ready, he opened the back of her robe that had a sipper and her body got completely exposed.
Ray removed his gloves... it was time.