In the south of the continent of Falmart lay a kingdom called Elbe Principality.
At its far western coast stretched a land known as the Glass Peninsula.
Here stood the temple cult of Emroy, the main god of "Darkness, Death, Judgment, Frenzy, and War."
Night fell, the moon brushed the treetops.
Above the temple of Emroy, in the clouds, towered a magnificent, awe-inspiring palace.
The entire palace was built of strange amethyst crystal, its surface traced with intricate patterns of black and crimson.
One after another, multicolored streaks of light descended like meteors from every direction, converging at the palace gates.
Among them, one brilliant golden streak—
Upon striking the ground, it transformed into a golden-haired goddess, radiant in a suit of golden armor, spear of the sun in hand, her bearing dazzling and heroic.
"Hardy, do you know what trick Emroy is playing this time?"
"Why suddenly summon us here, claiming there's something important to discuss?"
The goddess Miritta turned at once toward the figure of Hardy, who appeared in a glow of deep blue light.
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be related to the new world connected by the 'Gate.' But what's with that outfit of yours?"
Hardy looked at the fully armed Miritta with a helpless smile.
"Hmph. Who knows if fighting might break out later? Better to be prepared in advance!"
The goddess Miritta did nothing to hide her wariness toward Emroy.
As the two goddesses spoke, the other eight main gods arrived one after another.
"New world?"
"Yes. The 'Gate' I opened this time has drawn in a terrifying force!"
Hardy spoke heavily as she walked with the other gods into the palace.
"They call themselves the World Government. They command a kind of temporal gate called the 'Dimensional Gate,' and they have already conquered six worlds."
"The world on the other side of our 'Gate' is currently under their invasion. At the same time, they have dispatched small groups to probe into our world as well!"
Already, many auxiliary corps soldiers at Alnus Hill had fallen.
Naturally, their souls had been received into Hardy's Underworld.
Through them, she had already learned much.
She had originally planned to summon the other main gods herself, but unexpectedly Emroy had taken the initiative to call everyone together.
"That's right. As Hardy has said, this World Government is unlike any civilization we have known before. They wield power strong enough to threaten even gods such as us!"
No sooner had the ten main gods reached the center of the great hall than they saw her—Goddess Emroy, clad in a purple gown traced with black markings, standing opposite them with a gaze of absolute seriousness.
Even before Hardy, Miritta, or the others could reply, the goddess with flowing violet hair and eyes swept her hand casually through the air.
At once, a virtual screen materialized before them.
"See for yourselves."
Emroy knew well how deep the other main gods' prejudice toward her ran.
So she wasted no time, cutting straight to the heart of the matter to show them how dire the situation truly was.
Quickly, the screen began to play an image from another broadcast.
On an island ringed by ocean on all sides, a colossal blue-scaled serpent—was locked in combat with a towering blue giant wielding a blade!
Indeed—what they were watching was none other than the live broadcast of Kaido fighting Uchiha Madara.
"This 'giant serpent' can not only fly, but also transform into a giant?"
Zufmuut sighed in wonder after watching.
"That should be the ability of a Devil Fruit. Ah—Devil Fruits are a kind of miraculous fruit from the World Government's native world. Whoever eats one gains all sorts of magic-like powers!"
Hardy immediately explained to the assembled gods.
"Hardy, better that you transmit what you know to them directly through divine power."
At that moment, Goddess Emroy spoke up with the suggestion.
"Ugh… fine."
Hardy clearly disliked following Emroy's lead, yet she also knew this was the best course.
One after another, she cast beams of ghostly blue light toward the other gods.
Zufmuut and the rest did not resist, allowing the beams to sink into their bodies.
At once, waves of knowledge poured into their minds.
Soon, the expressions of every main god shifted—from calm curiosity, to surprise, to shock, to sheer disbelief.
For they had "seen with their own eyes" the varied landscapes of countless worlds.
And they had also witnessed scenes of the World Government invading those worlds.
Most of these memories came from the auxiliary corps soldiers' experiences.
To unite the full strength of a world and then launch conquests against other worlds, fielding armies not of tens of thousands but of hundreds of thousands, millions, even tens of millions—what a terrifyingly powerful force that was!
"It seems you have all absorbed the information. What are your thoughts?"
Goddess Emroy's solemn gaze swept across them.
"If it comes to direct war, we have no chance of victory. The human empires, the magisters of Rondel, the other races, even the magical beasts—combined, they stand no hope of prevailing."
Miritta shook her head in resignation.
"The enemy possesses Generals, beings who appear to rival us main gods in power—and they do not seem to be few in number."
Even so—
She knew full well that the horned giant who had transformed into a "blue-scaled serpent" in the image just now—
Only a few of the combat-inclined main gods present might be able to deal with such a being.
"Then why fight at all? Hardy could just close the 'Gate,' couldn't she?"
Zufmuut made the suggestion offhandedly.
"No!!!"
At once, Emroy, Hardy, and the others all rejected the idea in unison.
The words had barely fallen when they all looked around at one another—
And in each other's eyes, they saw the same unwillingness.
"Heh… so it seems you've all recognized the value of the World Government~"
Goddess Emroy smiled faintly.
Indeed, why had they, time and again, opened the 'Gates' to draw in the civilizations of other worlds?
Was it not because it benefited them all?
With more people in this world—
There would be more mortals to worship them, the main gods.
Birthrates would rise along with the population.
And with more people, there would inevitably be more wars and more deaths.
Wars would give rise to greater hatred.
And more death meant more souls.
They would also bring new knowledge, new skills, new music.
And all of this—the World Government could provide through the worlds beyond the 'Gates'!
"So the plan is to cooperate with them?" Deldort brightened at the thought.
"Yes. But judging from the World Government's past conduct, what they really want is for us to submit!" Emroy said.
"Hmph. Impossible."
"No matter how mighty they are, in the end they are still mortals!"
Flare raised her chin proudly.
"For gods such as us to even consider cooperating with them is already unthinkable!"
"Yes." Emroy nodded in agreement.
"We must make them understand that we are fundamentally different from the worlds they have conquered before."
"They cannot subjugate our world—not merely because of power."
"For we can close and open the 'Gate' at will!"
"So if there is to be contact between our sides, it can only be through cooperation and exchange!"
The main gods nodded repeatedly as they listened. At that moment, Hardy suddenly spoke.
"Then let's first capture the people they have already sent in. After that, we'll have our apostles go negotiate with their high command."
"And we should also warn them—if the 'Gate' remains open for too long, it will trigger catastrophic earthquakes in our world!"
...
The bright moon hung high, stars scattered across the sky.
Rondel, the most advanced magical city of this world's civilization, still had streetlamps standing tall in every street and alley.
Each one shed a gentle glow, dispersing the surrounding darkness like silent sentinels.
Inside Room 301 on the second floor of the Elf Inn—
Louise and Saito, the little couple, were sleeping soundly on the same bed, just as they always did.
Earlier that day, they had already decided that once they woke the next morning, they would follow the sage Cato north to Hardy's temple.
Even though there would be no Rory, surely the other party would give some face to Cato, right?
No matter what, they had to give it a try.
And if that failed, then they could still seek out that Rory.
In his sleep, Saito's hand occasionally wandered over Louise's body.
At that moment, his face actually revealed an expression of "regret," and he muttered some incoherent words in his sleep.
...
"Saito… what kind of expression is that?!"
About one kilometer away, in another building—
Louise's face was dark as she gripped her wand tightly, glaring angrily at Saito, who stood before her with an embarrassed look.
At first, she had felt a bit shy about having so many people see her sleeping posture.
But after seeing Saito's expression, she instantly had a guess in her heart—and that guess only made her angrier.
"You! You lecherous dog! You must be thinking about Siesta, aren't you? Aren't you?!"
"Yes, that's it! You usually love holding her because her breasts are bigger, isn't that right?!"
The more Louise spoke, the more agitated she became.
Sparks of lightning began crackling along the short wand in her hand.
"Calm down, Louise! Now's not the time for this—and besides, that's fake!"
Seeing this, Saito panicked completely, waving his hands and shouting in a rush.
"Shut up! I hate you the most! You pervert! You idiot! You're infuriating! What's so great about big boobs anyway? I'll kill you!"
Just as Louise raised her wand, ready to unleash her magic without restraint and teach her lecherous familiar a lesson, the wand was suddenly taken from her hands from behind.
"Tabitha!"
"Louise, the battle is about to begin."
Tabitha calmly reminded her as she looked at the fuming Louise.
"Hmph!"
Louise glanced at everyone present, then turned her head away with a proud snort, refusing to say another word.
This "room," in truth, was more like a hall.
Gathered here were nine people and one dragon in human form.
Floating in midair was a virtual screen.
On the screen was the scene of "Louise" and "Saito" sleeping soundly.
Of course, that wasn't the real thing.
It was an illusion conjured by Lelei's magic.
They had already discussed during the day that the World Government would never let Louise and the others go.
And without doubt, more shinobi had infiltrated this world—perhaps even into the city of Rondel itself.
So, they had secretly set up a safehouse here.
At the inn, illusions had been arranged to stand in for Louise's group.
The innkeeper and staff had been quietly instructed to interact with those illusions as if they were real.
Now, all across Rondel, though everything appeared calm on the surface—
The magisters, led by Magnus, Cato, and Mimoza, were already on full alert.
Even outside this safehouse, Itami Yōji had stationed twelve members of his intelligence and reconnaissance squad, along with one doctorate-level mage and four master-level mages, providing protection both openly and in secret.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---