Time passed swiftly.
The companions from the Konosuba world had gradually settled into their new lives within the Starsea Empire.
The Konosuba Squad, the Demon Slayer Corps, and the Night Raid Squad often formed joint teams to run dungeons in the Goblin Slayer world.
Occasionally, they even traveled through anchor points to the Konosuba world's Heaven to help the native goddesses there deal with various minor issues.
Thanks to the influence of Aqua, Eris, and others, most of the goddesses were now aware of the existence of the Starsea Empire, and both sides had established cooperative relations.
In the past, when those goddesses faced problems—like when a Demon King appeared in their managed worlds—they could only follow Heaven's ancient rules and send reincarnated heroes to handle it.
They would grant these heroes divine artifacts or abilities, hoping they could defeat the Demon King and preserve peace.
But the process was slow, and sometimes, the hero would lose instead—handing the Demon King a pile of free experience and equipment, nearly dooming the entire world.
For the goddesses now residing in the Starsea Empire, there was only one word to describe the old system:
"Inefficient!!"
"Seriously—what era is this? Still relying on traditional heroes to save the world?!"
"The times have changed!!!"
Now, they could simply request assistance from the Starsea Empire for rapid and efficient demon extermination.
Clack—
A fleet led by shipgirls—joined by members of the Demon Slayer Corps, Akame's team, Gudako, and others—passed through a teleportation anchor, arriving directly in Heaven.
They were greeted by a seraph with radiant wings and a glowing halo.
"Then, Miss El, just to confirm—you wish for us to eliminate a Demon King, correct?" asked Prinz Eugen, bringing up a holographic interface.
"Ah… yes, that's right," El nodded, instructing her subordinates to serve tea to the visitors.
"There's a world where a powerful Demon King has appeared again. It's rallying demonkind and launching a massive invasion against humanity. Several heroes we sent before have all failed."
"If it's not destroyed soon…"
"Leave it to us. No problem," Prinz Eugen waved her hand, politely declining further hospitality.
Shua—
In the goddess's managed world—
A massive black-and-red heavy interstellar cruiser broke through the clouds and descended from the sky.
Its scanners activated, locking precisely onto the Demon King's army. In less than ten minutes, it pinpointed the Demon King's fortress.
Zii—BOOM!!!
A subspace particle lance shattered the barrier, vaporizing both the Demon King and its fortress in an instant.
Then, Iris, Kanae, Akame, and several ordinary humans alongside Angeloids were dropped to the ground, swiftly annihilating the remnants of the Demon King's army.
The starship hovered overhead, monitoring the situation and providing orbital fire support to ensure the adventurer squad's safety.
Before long, the team returned.
"Mission complete. The Demon King and its remaining forces have been completely exterminated."
El stared dumbfounded at the shipgirls and adventurers' lightning-fast decapitation strike.
Absentmindedly, she took a sip of her still-hot tea.
"…"
"Say… do you still have room for another goddess? How about I just hand over this world's management to you…?"
For the first time, she wanted to experience the carefree life of delegation.
Many of her colleagues had already entrusted their worlds to the Starsea Empire's Sophons while they themselves went to live leisurely in the Commander's citadel.
"Of course. Come aboard," Prinz Eugen smiled.
"The Commander said it's fine even if the entire Heaven eventually delegates all their worlds to us~ The Starsea Empire warmly welcomes every goddess~"
...
In the imperial capital, the goddesses' missionary work was also showing remarkable results.
Most spent their time in their great cathedrals, leading lolis and visitors in prayer or blessing rituals.
As for spreading faith to the vassal worlds, the Angeloids handled that.
Among them, Eris's Church still had the most followers—her grand cathedral was always packed with believers every day.
Though other goddesses had fewer followers, their situation was still leagues better than it had been in the Konosuba world.
At least now, their existence was no longer questioned, and their divine power steadily grew stronger day by day.
Some of the research-oriented lolis from the magic division, driven by sheer scientific curiosity, deliberately joined obscure cults. The goddesses were overjoyed by this.
They followed their little believers around every day, caring for them attentively, worried that their followers might have complaints.
However, every so often, those same lolis would drag them to the Research Department to undergo experiments—analyzing their divine powers and authorities. This left the goddesses utterly baffled.
These believers didn't seem like the kind they were used to. They didn't worship gods for spiritual comfort—but for research purposes.
...
One day.
Setsuna was patrolling the capital as part of his routine inspection.
When he happened to stroll past the Eris Cathedral, he saw that the daily prayers had just concluded. As the crowd dispersed, Eris was resting inside.
Upon spotting Setsuna, she quickly stood up and greeted him politely.
"Ah… Hero, what an honor."
She bowed lightly.
"Hm."
Setsuna casually surveyed the cathedral's interior. It was easy to see she was immensely popular.
"How are things here? Better than Heaven?" he asked.
"It's an incredible world," Eris replied softly.
"Hero, I receive far more—and stronger—faith energy here than I ever did back there. I think my power might even surpass Lady Aqua's now."
"The Angeloids also help spread my faith, which makes everything so much easier."
As a goddess, Aqua was technically her senior. But thanks to her immense popularity in the Starsea Empire, Eris felt that the amount of faith energy she was receiving far exceeded anyone else's.
"Though… sometimes, the children pray to me for rather strange things…"
Eris touched her lips thoughtfully.
"Like… asking not to 'pull the wrong card,' or wishing for 'double golds in a ten-pull'?"
"Um, I think it's something to do with one of their games?"
Setsuna nearly burst out laughing.
The capital had plenty of entertainment options, games among them. When the shipgirls and Sirens had free time, they often developed games for everyone to play—just like back in the Honkai world.
Even though gaming had advanced into full holographic experiences, the ancient art of gacha—the heart-pounding, blood-pressure-raising ritual—had endured.
So, praying to the Goddess of Luck for better gacha results? Perfectly logical.
"So? Do you actually respond to those prayers?" Gudako asked curiously.
"Well… I think luck is still luck, right? There's no harm in giving a small blessing for such things," Eris replied with a tilted head.
"It's just… Akashi keeps coming to complain. She said she set the rate for gold pulls at 0.6%, with a soft pity at 90 rolls, and only a 50% chance of drawing the featured unit."
"But for Eris followers, the average result is double or triple golds in a single ten-roll. She checked the servers multiple times—no bugs. Eventually, she could only call it 'divine interference' and came running to me…"
"Even the Sophons suggested I lower the blessing output across the vassal worlds. Apparently, several gaming companies have also been affected…"
Eris looked innocent as she spoke. She had never encountered gacha or lotteries back in Heaven, and Gudako couldn't stop laughing.
"You're a game developer's natural enemy!!"
The Goddess of Luck's blessing—truly terrifying.
If she herself were to pull a gacha or buy a lottery ticket, she'd probably hit the jackpot every single time. Ten pulls, ten golds. Open a loot box? Guaranteed mythic drop.
—Though to Eris herself, such things held no meaning.
"Wait…" Tohru suddenly frowned, realizing something.
"So that means, a goddess's blessing actually has immediate effects on her followers?"
That was indeed the key difference between goddesses of the Konosuba world and those abstract, distant deities.
Their power was directly fueled by the faith of believers—and in turn, they could bless their followers with tangible effects.
"Yes… I think so," Eris nodded gently.
"Since I came to your world, I want to do my best to protect it."
"I like it here. The children are pure, and everyone—shipgirls, spirits, heroic spirits—are all so easy to get along with."
"I'm not good at fighting, so I just try to help however I can…"
She looked seriously at Setsuna.
"Hero, if you ever go to war again, please take me with you—or at least let me bless you with the Goddess of Luck's protection."
"I'll grant you the same good fortune I possess. After all, luck determines the outcome of many things~"
"The other goddesses from Heaven are also grateful for your care—they'd be happy to bless you too. We might still be goddesses, but in our own domains, we have some confidence."
Eris blinked playfully and gave a cute smile.
Her ordinary blessings for believers might only result in minor miracles—better gacha luck, double drops, or higher item rates.
But the personal blessing of the Goddess of Luck herself meant literally unparalleled fortune.
It might sound like superstition, but in combat and exploration, luck was crucial.
Every decision would yield the best possible outcome. Any situation involving probability would always end in success.
It even came with an extraordinarily heightened sixth sense.
"Oh, so we can come to the goddesses for buffs now?" Setsuna's eyes lit up.
Even if the Konosuba goddesses were airheaded comedians, their divinity still operated on the level of universal laws.
Receiving buffs from a group of goddesses? That was serious value.
God's blessing on this wonderful world!—it made perfect sense.
"..."
"Commander," Gudako jabbed him in the side.
"You're already carrying blessings from the Spirit of Origin, Lucoa, Tohru, and Elma, plus all those other weird ones… If you add another pack of goddesses, your buff list won't even fit on the screen anymore!"
...
After meeting Eris, Setsuna decided to visit Aqua as well. After all, that airheaded goddess was, in a way, the main heroine of the Konosuba world.
Unfortunately, Aqua wasn't in the grand cathedral of the capital.
The vast hall stood empty—there weren't even any lolis coming by to pray.
The Angeloid stationed there gave Setsuna an unexpected answer.
"Report, Master. At present, the followers of the Axis Order in this world mainly consist of children from the Research Division."
"Lady Aqua has gone to the lunar research base to spread her faith. She said she wants to establish another Axis Order branch on the moon."
"She originally wanted to preach to the shipgirls, but the little shipgirls prefer Lady Eris, and the older ones aren't interested in religion at all…"
"???"
"The lunar research base? Aqua? Her?!"
Setsuna was stunned.
He couldn't imagine the airheaded goddess fitting in with the group of genius-level lolis from the Research Division.
"Wait, she's not going to drag down the empire's average IQ, is she???"
Whoosh—
A small shuttle quickly launched from Earth, breaking through the atmosphere and heading toward the lunar research base.
...
The Moon.
After multiple rounds of reconstruction by the Angeloids and Bulins, most of the lunar surface had been transformed into something resembling a futuristic space city.
Various sci-fi structures floated in midair. In addition to towering research facilities, there were also large-scale testing fields for the Physics Division and breeding grounds for Honkai Beasts under the Life Sciences Department.
The Chiyou hatchling obtained earlier was being raised there, fed daily with captured Honkai Beasts by research lolis, gradually growing stronger.
A few Emperor-class Honkai Beasts even roamed the surface freely—under the control of the Herrscher of Domination's power, they were completely docile and obedient.
...
In the western hemisphere of the Moon—the Ocean of Storms.
This was the Moon's largest mare. Though called a "sea," it was actually a vast gray plain spanning over four million square kilometers.
The Research Division frequently used the Ocean of Storms as a testing ground for new weapons and equipment.
When Setsuna arrived, he found a group of research lolis surrounding Aqua on a platform at the edge of the plain.
"Lady Aqua, here—please wear this, and this one, and this too, thank you."
A small girl strapped all sorts of strange monitoring devices to Aqua's arms, head, and back.
Then she activated a holographic display to observe the readings.
"Um… huh?"
Aqua blinked in confusion.
"What are these things for? Why are they so heavy?"
"It's for the Axis Order! We want to see how powerful your divine energy really is," explained Kayo Senju.
"Please, Lady Aqua!!"
"Ah—okay!"
Aqua didn't understand advanced technology at all, but since these little girls had joined the Axis Order, she figured it was only natural to fulfill their requests.
"?"
"What are you all doing?"
Setsuna frowned slightly, feeling that the scene before him was not at all what he had expected.
"Reporting, Commander—we're studying the power of the goddesses," Kayo Senju said quietly, approaching him.
"We're trying to deconstruct and analyze divine energy. The goddesses appear to be some form of conceptual embodiment—they can manipulate the rules within their own domains."
"Aqua is a goddess of the elements, with one of the highest divine ranks in Heaven. She has significant research value."
"..."
"Wasn't she supposed to be here preaching?" asked Tohru, confused.
"Well, she was at first," Kayo admitted, scratching her head. "But we wanted to study something, so we asked her for help."
"She's easy to talk to—kinda like coaxing a kid."
"..."
The research lolis were clearly just playing with Aqua, convincing her to cooperate with their experiments.
A few sweet words—like 'we want to join the Axis Order'—and she happily tagged along, completely unaware she was being used for data collection.
It was hard to believe how easily the airheaded goddess was fooled.
"Lady Aqua, please—show us another miracle!"
"Lady Aqua, we'd like to see your authority as the Goddess of Water. Please demonstrate your full ability to create water."
"Um… but don't overdo it, please. If you flood the research base, that would be… inconvenient…"
The research lolis spoke to her with reverent enthusiasm, each one calling her "Lady Aqua," which completely delighted the airheaded goddess.
"No problem!"
"I can feel my divine power returning! Watch closely!"
Aqua clenched her fists dramatically.
In the Starsea Empire, her number of followers still couldn't compare to Eris's, but given the empire's enormous population, there were still plenty of curious people who had joined the Axis Order.
The faith pouring in from more than a dozen vassal worlds and the main world was unlike anything she had ever experienced.
Shua—
With a wave of her hand—
"Behold!"
BOOM!!!
The lunar surface had always been a completely dry environment.
Even though the weather-control systems could simulate gravity and atmosphere, there was still no natural liquid water anywhere on the Moon.
Until suddenly—
Waaash—
From the empty sky, a massive flood descended.
It was born from nothing—from pure void.
Compared to the flood she had summoned over the Golden Horn earlier, this was on an entirely different scale.
From the surface, it looked like a colossal waterfall stretching from one horizon to the other—magnificent beyond words.
"Whoa…"
Setsuna and the research lolis could only stare, awestruck.
In a vacuum environment, summoning a cataclysmic deluge out of nothing—that was the true power of the Goddess of Water.
Splash—
Torrents of water crashed down onto the Moon, spraying in all directions.
All the researchers stopped what they were doing, marveling at the sight of cascading waterfalls that stretched for kilometers.
The floodwaters slammed into the lunar regolith. Some of it was absorbed, while the rest pooled into the Ocean of Storms basin.
At first, small streams formed.
Those streams merged into several lakes, and the lakes quickly rose, becoming an endless blue sea within minutes.
The flood kept pouring down from the heavens. Before long, the millions of square kilometers of the Ocean of Storms had turned into a true lunar ocean.
Waves surged and crashed across the new sea.
Under the Moon's weaker gravity, the waves rose much higher than they would on Earth. Some of the water even drifted upward, floating gently back down.
From orbit, one could see a vast swath of blue spreading across the gray-white lunar surface.
Aqua, clearly enjoying herself, wasn't stopping.
"See that?! This is the power of the Goddess of Water!!!"
"If I want, I can summon floods big enough to drown entire planets! I told you before—it was only because my divine power was low~"
"Wait! Stop!"
Seeing the water level rapidly rising toward the research base, Kayo Senju shouted in panic.
—When the lunar base had been built, no one had considered the possibility of floods on the Moon.
"Uh…"
The research lolis looked at each other, stunned.
For the first time, they had witnessed firsthand what divine power truly meant.
Moments later, one of the lolis at the control console began typing rapidly, bringing up various monitoring graphs and data streams.
She studied the readings carefully, occasionally nodding to herself.
"Hm… as expected, when receiving sufficient faith energy, a goddess's control over her domain's rules increases dramatically…"
"This seems to be some kind of conceptual-level ability… We'll need further tests with the other goddesses' authorities…"
"And since the Starsea Empire isn't bound by Heaven's restrictions, theoretically, they can unleash their full power here…"
The researchers whispered excitedly among themselves for a while.
Setsuna, half lost in their technical jargon, could only follow bits and pieces, while Aqua basked proudly in her own glory.
After her little performance, the lolis dragged her back to the lab for a physical examination.
"So? Any results? That idiot seems a lot stronger than before," Tohru asked.
"Hmm…"
After a while, Kayo Senju stood up, brought up a holographic display, and began explaining seriously to Setsuna.
"Commander, Aqua—or rather, the goddesses in general—manifest differently depending on the world they're in."
"Hm?"
Setsuna gestured for her to continue.
"It's like this. Back in the Konosuba world, Aqua was in her descended form—her abilities were heavily restricted by Heaven's rules and greatly diminished," Kayo Senju explained.
"Her power was on par with that of the locals. She only possessed some high-priest-level skills, and when she used her water-creation authority, the most she could do was flood a city. She couldn't even defeat a Demon King."
"We refer to that form as Standard Aqua—meaning, the baseline Aqua."
"..."
Setsuna found the name a little strange, but nodded anyway.
"In Heaven, she manifests as her true self—the Goddess of Water—possessing resurrection, blessings, and the ability to bestow divine artifacts upon reincarnated heroes. That state aligns with the concept of divinity itself. We call that form Divine Aqua."
"Although Divine Aqua is much stronger than Standard Aqua, she's still bound by Heaven's rules. For example, she can't descend freely to the mortal world or travel across worlds at will…"
"She's also limited in how much divine power she can use without authorization."
Kayo paused, glancing toward Aqua, who was still surrounded by researchers.
"However, after crossing into another world and arriving in the Starsea Empire, she effectively transcended those restrictions. We refer to this form as World Aqua."
"World Aqua possesses most of the abilities of both Divine and Standard Aqua, but she's no longer bound by Heaven's regulations. Instead, her strength is sustained entirely by the faith energy of this world. In other words, her power now depends solely on the number and devotion of her followers."
"The stronger the faith, the greater her control over the laws within her domain. She's already capable of creating oceans on the Moon—if she wished, she could probably turn an entire desert planet into an ocean world in no time."
"..."
Three forms of divinity—a new concept, even for Setsuna.
The naming scheme sounded bizarre, yet oddly fitting.
Standard Aqua represented her weakest, mortal-like form.
Divine Aqua wielded the might of Heaven itself, but her actions were tightly constrained by divine law—something Eris herself had often complained about.
World Aqua, on the other hand, was a free agent. Starting from scratch in a new world, unrestricted by Heaven's rules, yet with unlimited potential for growth through faith.
"Hm. This ability to convert and harness faith energy is fascinating. It could serve as a major research topic for the Department of Magic…" one of the research lolis remarked.
"Mhm."
So long as people believed in her creed and recited her teachings, a goddess's strength would continue to rise.
Setsuna thought this method of gaining power was absurdly efficient. Maybe one day, the Starsea Empire could establish a state religion—and he could claim a divine seat himself.
"How about a golden throne while you're at it? Planning to become the God-Commander?" Gudako teased, looking up at him.
Bonk—
Setsuna flicked her forehead.
"Our empire truly is flourishing," he said with a faint smile.
—
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