Although she had lost her demon contract, Natsuki Minamiya's strength had not diminished because of it, and she could still command the power of space.
The title of "Witch of the Gap" would not fade either.
After Natsuki Minamiya greeted everyone, Darkness and the others also followed suit, and the group members began chatting lively with them.
Aside from Frieren, who appeared a bit withdrawn due to not having interacted with people for hundreds of years, the others were all quite outgoing.
Combined with the familiarity they had built up during group chats, they quickly blended in with the others.
Still, the group members did not ignore Frieren because of her aloofness, doing their best to help her integrate into the larger community.
In no time, the living room became lively and bustling.
The entire welcome ceremony did not last long. Before long, the crowd gathered in the living room dispersed, each going off to enjoy themselves in different areas.
Meanwhile, under Arifureta's guidance, Natsuki Minamiya and the others began wandering around the villa.
Everywhere in the villa they could see little lolis and beautiful girls, along with groups of silver-haired maids weaving through the crowd to provide services for the guests.
All of this gave Natsuki Minamiya and her companions quite a novel experience.
At the same time, they discovered something very strange: from beginning to end, they had not seen a single male figure here.
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Natsuki Minamiya asked Arifureta:
"Arifureta, why haven't we seen any men here? Is there some special reason for this?"
The reason she asked wasn't because she liked being around men, but purely out of curiosity.
Hearing Natsuki Minamiya's question, Eris and the others also turned their curious eyes toward Arifureta.
Arifureta did not conceal anything and answered straightforwardly:
"There's actually no special reason. Eriri just doesn't like being around men, so she made a rule that only women are allowed in this villa."
"That's already special enough, don't you think?"
Natsuki Minamiya couldn't help but roll her eyes, then her face took on a strange expression.
"Although I already had some guesses from the group chat conversations, it seems Eriri really does like girls."
The other four also showed odd expressions. After all, in their worlds, unlike in Tenma's world, same-sex love was not very common.
Still, they did not feel any dislike toward Eriri because of this.
In fact, in their eyes, if the person was Eriri, then even if it was a girl, there didn't seem to be any problem.
After all, they had already been captivated by Eriri's peerless beauty the very moment they saw her in the livestream.
"Of course, that's something we all agree on."
"But it's also fortunate Eriri likes girls. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had such an easy time being with her."
As Arifureta said this, a blissful smile appeared on her face.
Thinking back to her time together with Eriri and the experiences of more than a year, Arifureta felt incredibly lucky.
In her previous life, as Eriri's devoted fan, even before Eriri had joined the chat group, she had already resolved to put in effort to change Eriri's orientation and give her all to win her over.
She hadn't even considered whether she would ever truly meet Eriri.
After all, with the chat group—a cheat connecting the multiverse—even if Eriri never joined, she would still have tried to find the world Eriri belonged to.
It was as if the chat group had heard her innermost desire, because before long, Eriri was pulled into it. She had been excited for days.
If not for the fact that the chat group still lacked the function to travel between worlds, and that she herself had still been trapped in a seal, she would have long since rushed to Eriri's side to begin her pursuit.
Later, upon learning that Eriri also liked girls, to her, it felt no different than mutual destiny.
So, after finally meeting Eriri, she confirmed their relationship at the very first opportunity.
She truly felt herself to be extremely fortunate.
Seeing Arifureta's blissful smile, Natsuki Minamiya gave her a deep look, then let out a soft laugh.
"It seems you really do like Eriri."
"Of course I do!" Arifureta replied without hesitation.
She then couldn't help but selectively share some sweet little stories between her and Eriri, instantly feeding Natsuki Minamiya and the others a mouthful of dog food.
At the side, Darkness suddenly wore a perverted smile, as if imagining some twisted play.
Victoria and Eris, on the other hand, showed expressions of admiration.
Although Victoria had decided to remain unmarried for life, it was mainly due to her lifespan and humanity's prejudice against half-elves. That didn't mean she was uninterested in love.
As for Eris, although she was a goddess, she was not the type that had lost her humanity and only retained divinity. Rather, she was a pure girl who had never been in love. Hearing sweet love stories naturally stirred longing in her heart.
Meanwhile, Frieren, who had remained silent all along, now revealed a curious expression.
As a long-lived elf with little sensitivity toward emotions, she couldn't quite understand the kind of feelings Arifureta spoke of. Yet a small seed of wanting to understand quietly sprouted within her heart.
...
Around eleven o'clock in the morning, Seraphim and Sarasvati finally returned from the vampire ninja village. Under Nene's guidance, they passed through the World Gate and arrived in the Saekano world.
Before coming here, Sarasvati had already learned from Seraphim many things Eriri had once mentioned—such as how Eriri was not from this universe, and about the existence of the multiverse.
Still, when they followed Nene through the World Gate and entered the villa, they were stunned by what they saw.
In the Virtual Arena, they witnessed Luo Hao, Jibril, and Esdeath sparring, their casual blows carrying destructive might enough to shake heaven and earth. The sheer power terrified both of them.
If not for the protective barrier around the arena, they likely wouldn't even have had the courage to watch.
Before coming here, Seraphim and Sarasvati had thought they would be of great use to Eriri.
But after seeing the hundreds of maids moving gracefully through the crowd, they realized they had thought too highly of themselves.
Just as they prepared to fulfill their duties as Eriri's servants by joining the maid corps, Eriri stopped them.
From Eriri, they learned that her personal servants were completely different from the hundreds of other maids. That revelation allowed them to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It meant they still had value to Eriri.
...
Time quickly passed, and by a little after five in the afternoon, the banquet began.
Everyone attending the gathering assembled in the banquet hall. The tables were covered with a grand feast prepared by Aoi Kujou, Erina Nakiri, and others.
At long last, Natsuki Minamiya was able to savor the divine-level cuisine she had been eagerly anticipating for a day and a half.
The overwhelming flavor that shook her very soul made her feel that coming to this gathering had been the best decision.
For the next while, she abandoned her usual elegance, transforming into a genuine foodie wandering all over the banquet hall.
She even used points to accelerate her digestion so she could eat more despite already being full.
Victoria remained stationed in the dessert area, endlessly devouring puddings, mochi, cakes… all sorts of exquisite Chinese, Japanese, and French sweets filled her mouth without restraint.
In that moment, she felt like she had entered a paradise of desserts.
Darkness, Eris, and Frieren were no less enthusiastic in their feasting.
Seraphim and Sarasvati were also utterly conquered by the endless delicacies in the banquet hall. Sarasvati felt immense gratitude for having accepted the role of Eriri's servant—otherwise she would never have had the chance to taste such cuisine.
Just like that, over two hours of the banquet flew by. The satisfied group members soon left with their friends and relatives, each returning to their own worlds.
Another two hours later, at ten o'clock in the evening, Eriri suddenly received a Cross-Boundary Talisman request from Darkness.
Speaking of which, this was actually the first time since the establishment of the World Gate that Eriri had received a Cross-Boundary Talisman request from a group member.
She had nearly forgotten that using a Cross-Boundary Token still required the other party's consent.
At this moment, Eriri and Arifureta had just finished bathing and were lying on the bed, playing co-op games on their Switch consoles. Neither of them had been paying attention to the chat group's messages.
So when Eriri received Darkness' teleportation request, her attention instinctively shifted to the chat group.
After checking, she saw no message from Darkness, meaning the request had been sent quietly.
From this, Eriri immediately guessed why Darkness had chosen to sneak over at this time.
Her lips curved into an intrigued smile.
Noticing the change in Eriri's expression, Arifureta—who now knew Eriri extremely well—immediately realized something interesting was about to happen.
Curious, she asked, "Eriri, what happened?"
"That girl Darkness couldn't hold back anymore. She just sent me a Cross-Boundary request."
Eriri spoke without hiding anything, directly voicing her guess.
"Ah… as expected of her."
Arifureta was left speechless at Darkness' eagerness to be abused, yet she didn't doubt Eriri's words at all.
"So, what do you plan to do? Will you let her come?"
"Of course. Since she can't wait any longer, I don't mind indulging her perverted fetish. As for the game, we'll play later."
"…Fine."
Though a bit reluctant, Arifureta still yielded to Eriri's decision.
After pausing the game, the two of them sat up from the bed.
Eriri then directly accepted Darkness' request.
In an instant, a world portal appeared a short distance in front of them, and soon, Darkness—clad in her knight's armor—stepped through it.
The moment her eyes landed on Eriri, who was wearing nothing but a silky, seductive nightgown, Darkness' breath caught, and her heartbeat faltered for a split second.
Her breathing quickly grew heavier, and her heartbeat accelerated.
Those shapely legs exposed beneath the fabric, the the delicate and alluring collarbone, and the faintly rising and falling chest beneath the lace nightwear…
For a moment, Darkness found it hard to look away.
Seeing Darkness stare at Eriri with the eyes of a lust-stricken woman, Arifureta immediately glared at her in irritation.
She then moved her body directly in front of Eriri, blocking Darkness' view.
"Enough. Stop staring. Why are you here?" Arifureta asked unhappily.
Though she couldn't stop Eriri from being with others, this was supposed to be her and Eriri's private time.
Now, being interrupted by Darkness left her displeased. Not to mention, Darkness had the audacity to look at Eriri with those kinds of eyes right upon arrival. That only made her more upset.
She even regretted not making Eriri change clothes beforehand, but it was too late for that now.
Hearing Arifureta's words and with Eriri's body now blocked from her sight, Darkness finally snapped back to her senses.
Even though Arifureta wore the exact same seductive nightgown as Eriri, Darkness felt not the slightest attraction toward her.
Realizing what she had just done, Darkness flushed with embarrassment.
"Ah… sorry. Did I come at a bad time?"
Even as she spoke, Darkness couldn't help sneaking glances toward Eriri, hidden behind Arifureta.
She knew full well the relationship between Eriri and Arifureta, and with the way they were dressed, it was obvious they had been about to do something intimate.
Before Arifureta could answer, Eriri's voice rang out first.
"It's fine. Otherwise, I wouldn't have accepted your request." Eriri smiled at Darkness as she spoke.
At the same time, she wrapped her arms around Arifureta from behind, pressing her body against her back.
Then she lowered her head, affectionately leaning close to Arifureta's ear.
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven