(Remake) World Jumpers: Thus The World Jumpers Fought There

Part 16 - Gods And Magic

(Legend)

Bold Text is Powerful Voice!
Italicized Text is thinking.
Text in < > are time and/or location texts, may also double as system text
Text in { } are translations
Numbers in [ ] are references, see end of chapter for references

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( Summary )

Rondel, the city of magic. While it was chaos in the capital, the World Jumpers venture to Rondel to escort Lelei for her presentation to become an archmage. However, no one said that it would be a safe journey, nor would it be a simple one. While complicated, it is rather interesting. Especially when a goddess decides to summon you for a talk.

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(Cue World Jumpers x GATE OP 2: Sekai wo Koete)

"🎵 Heeeyyyyy! Young blood, doesn't it like our time is running out? I'm gonna change you like a remix! Then I'll raise you like a phoenix! Wearing our–" Zane was cut off from singing when Toyokami batted him with her sniper.

"Shut up already!" Toyokami shouted. "I have to agree. That's like the tenth time you've repeated that damn chorus because you don't know the rest of the song." Keith said.

"Kare ga zutto 'Centuries' to kurikaesu yori wa ī. {Better than him repeating 'Centuries' all the time.}" Kai shrugged. "Oh don't even start!" "Fuck off" "Oh good grief..." were the replies of Rory, Owen, and a sighing Carlson.

"'YoU wiLL reMeMbeR mE fOr CeNturIEs!' Like what the fuck was that shit singing!?" Toyokami shouted. "Tā zài mófǎng xī ěr wéi sī tè-shǐtàilóng 'Sylvester Stallone'." Owen snarked.

"How ironic coming from the dude whose English is much broken and shitter to understand than Stallone." Zane argued.

"Papa, they're fighting again!" Tuka whined while Keith just looked so done with this shit. They were so close to Rondel now, they had to walk the rest of the way so the people didn't panic upon seeing the dragons. And worse, they spent almost half a week trying to help clean up the town and healing people and the other half just getting to Rondel.

"Are we there–" Zane was about to ask but was cut off when Keith shouted, "NO! WE'RE NOT! SO JUST SHUT YOUR FUCKING BLOODY TRAP YOU REDHEADED DRAGON FAPPING TWO-BIT WANKER!"

The group just blinked before they all took a step away from Keith and whistled, well those that could anyway, innocently. Keith just took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing to walk while everyone followed behind.

They reached Rondel after an hour more of walking. And to the World Jumpers' surprise, it was actually beautiful in person. It felt like they were visiting something like a mix of Harry Potter's Hogwarts combined with Game Of Thrones' King's Landing and the color palette and similar natural location of Frozen's Arendelle.

Toyokami wasted no time in vlogging and taking pictures of the place, especially ones with Tuka, while Carlson was already documenting information. Kai was admiring the beauty of it all while Zane was jumping up to the roofs and doing parkour.

Owen even wasted no time in picking everyone's pockets or nicking clothing, specifically ones you wouldn't even notice it was missing till you went on a bathroom break. Don't worry, he puts said clothing in a safe spot. By safe spot, I mean the trash bins or someone else's pockets.

Keith even pulled out a polaroid camera from his shield and began taking pictures of the area and pictures of the others, even taking a few photos of the wizards and witches of the city.

"Rondel has a longer history than the Empire. It dates back to when the gods of learning, Elange (pronounced: Elran) and La, were both still demigods. They founded a school here." Lelei informed them as they walked through the streets, Carlson writing those down.

"Man, if sis was here to see this, she would be gushing about how beautiful this place is." Keith remarked as he took a selfie on his phone to send to his sister for later.

"And it seems that most of the people here are around our age. I suppose this place is famous for scholars and students alike." Carlson remarked, smiling at how some people were taking their practice seriously and not just throwing random spells like Owen does.

"And another thing about Rondel is that its people are poor planners and illogical." Lelei roasted. "Heh, if that's the case then this place shouldn't even be standing." Zane jokes, making the others chuckle.

The group eventually reached an inn called Sea of Books, which is ironic since the place had little to no books. And also, it's the group's first time seeing a fairy, gnomes, and... whatever the man named Harmar is. While Harmar would pass for human, his green eyes and sclera would say otherwise.

"Welcome Apostle, and her followers as well. 'Tis an honor beyond our highest expectations. Welcome each of you to the Sea of Books." Harmar bowed.

"Hey, we're not–" Zane was about to clarify before Keith lightly elbowed his side. "Keep it quiet, the higher our status the better we'll be treated here." Lelei informed him.

"–not just followers. We are her holiness's close friends." Zane immediately corrected himself when Harmar looked at him curiously. "Good. You can actually keep your voice low and not shout for once." Keith chimed in just to make it convincing.

When Harmar found nothing wrong with what they said, he ushered the fairy to come over as she flew over while carrying a quill. "Welcome to the city of Rondel!" Harmar proudly said, "We've prepared the very best accommodations for you."

The World Jumpers had to stop themselves from groaning or cringing upon hearing that, remembering that they can't really get a good feel of the accommodations. "Our staff here will be in charge of showing you to your rooms, as well as taking care of your every need."

Toyokami had to log out briefly to laugh her ass off as her dirty ass mind went to an innuendo at the last part. Tuka glanced at her girlfriend and immediately knew she was laughing in whatever dimension she was in because her avatar was not moving at all.

"Please rest assured, you'll be in excellent hands with them. They're the best we have!" Harmar continued on, enthusiastically, unknown to him that Toyokami was already laughing her ass off and wheezing from the innuendos.

"No thanks, I'm not gae." Owen whispered to his cousin, making the two chuckle to themselves. The skeleton mage was wearing his helmet and is in his human appearance.

"Are you here to accompany this young lady in her magical appointments?" Harmar asked, "We'll see to it that it's as pleasant as possible," he assured.

"Thank you kindly good sir." Keith bowed in thanks along with Kai and Carlson and the Special Region girls, Zane just giving them a thumbs up, while Toyokami and Owen just nodded.

They all head up to their rooms, which were conveniently next to each other and Keith had to thank their extra numbers of men as Itami's room in the original was a stock room. But since there were five men, they were given their proper room.

Keith immediately knocks on the door of the girl's room. "It's Keith." Keith politely informed. Toyokami opened the door before blocking his path, "~To get through this door, you must answer a riddle!~" Toyokami playfully said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh for fucks sake, this shit again?" Keith tried to force his way into the room but Toyokami just summoned her riot shield and blocked the door. "Oh for the love of!" Keith groaned before he sparta kicked Toyokami's riot shield lightly to move her away from the door.

The German made the mistake of grabbing hold of the doorframe and ended up slamming into the wall like a door, making her whine in pain as she held her aching shoulder and arm while cursing. Tuka gasped before running over to nurse her girlfriend while pouting at her father.

"What?" Keith looked at her incredulously, "Don't look at me like that." "You know father, sometimes I wonder if you even have a sense of humor." Tuka looked away.

Keith gawked at her, "Excuse you 'young' lady, I do have a sense of humor," Keith wittily retorted, "I just don't have the patience for it sometimes."

Keith then looks at Lelei and recoils a bit from shock. She is no longer wearing her usual attire and instead is wearing her academia master robes.

"Are you Lelei or a scholar that looks exactly like her?" Keith jokingly complimented. "Am I that unrecognizable?" Lelei asked, a little embarrassed given the light blush on her cheeks.

"Kinda," Keith admitted, "Maybe it's because I haven't seen you wearing something different from your usual robes." he then tried to recall that Lelei and Rory rarely change clothing styles, the latter he remembers usually wears something like a singlet and pair of jeans or a simple black sundress.

Tuka wears different clothings anyway, she just prefers the shirt, jeans, and shoes she's wearing now because Toyokami bought them for her. And the scarf she wears around her neck is the last reminder of her home and actual father, so she doesn't really wish to remove that.

"Is it customary in the city to wear such outfits?" Yao curiously asked. "Only customary for certain people," Rory confirmed, "Anyone trying to become a master mage will wear this in Rondel."

"Like trying to graduate from a university, right?" Carlson said, surprising Keith. The kitsune's hand immediately raised towards his chest and placed it there, like a person having a heart attack from shock. "Christ, Carlson. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Apologies, commander. The door was open so I assumed it was okay to share my input on the matter." Carlson politely said.

"Yes, it's like that," Lelei said, answering Carlson's previous statement, "However, the rank of master would be close equivalent to that of a professor or a scientist in your world's system." Lelei added, getting a nod of understanding from the Brit.

She walks towards Keith and the now recovered Toyokami, who slaps Keith in slight annoyance from earlier. "Do you think... this fits me?" Lelei asked the two, Keith in general as he was the one who would give out criticism if need be and because the other one will just try to be blunt about it and try to add extra adjustments that aren't needed.

"Well, given its customary here, there's not much I can say against it. And in all honesty, I have nothing against it," Keith answered, "You look great in both robes and anything that shows off your calmness and intelligence." he complimented, remembering seeing Lelei wearing the clothing she got from Japan that one time so the kids could see just how different the fashion was in Japan compared to Falmart (Special Region).

The aqua-haired girl blushed in response but her blank face remained. Keith couldn't tell if she was grateful for the compliment, blushing in embarrassment, or growing flustered. It's like with Frostine sometimes.

"If my presentations at the conference are not accepted, then those in attendance... will throw ink all over my robes... and from then on, I won't be allowed to take it off while in the city... nor will I become a master..." Lelei said, pessimistically.

"Hey, Lelei, none of that," Keith stopped her train of thought, "You're the most smartest mage I know–" "Technically, you only know three other mages plus the one who helped you acquire the magic stone–" Carlson interjected.

"Carlson, shut the fuck up." Keith plainly said. Just as he was about to continue, "Also most and smartest–" "I don't have to use them in the same sentence, I know." Keith finished, "Now hush."

He then turns to Lelei before turning back to Carlson, who wasn't adding anything else thankfully. "You're the smartest mage I know personally. Owen's shit at being a mage, Cato is an old pervert — sometimes, and the mage I have in our dimension is still learning on her own. And I didn't personally know the magic shop owner back in the other universe, we were only associates."

Lelei smiled at the compliment but also felt like it was kinda backhanded since he's comparing her to Owen. But then again, she has a bonus to flaunt her own magic prowess while Owen just throws random spells. And according to Keith, the skeleton barely tapped into his full capabilities.

The group eventually heads out to explore the city more as Lelei gives a tour. Although, the World Jumpers did find the innkeeper's reaction to Lelei trying to be a master hilarious. He screamed like a little girl before shouting in disbelief with a high pitched voice. Even more so when they said they're the killers of the Flame Dragon, even proving it by showing the dragon's scales. Harmar fainted after that and the group left just seconds after.

The group may have also seen the research area of the mages explode and go up in smoke as shouts of people arguing from the hole on the wall that was repaired in a matter of seconds. "People shout 'troll face' and 'swine head'? What kind of insults are those?" Zane furrowed his brows in confusion.

"The kind that doesn't belong on Earth. You may have forgotten that we're in a completely different world." Keith jokingly remarked, making the Yukki cousins chortle. "Oi, you should also know that no one here knows what 'wanker' is," Zane argued.

"Why do you think the kids greeted everyone in Alnus with 'Oh, good morning ya wanker' that one time last month?" Keith snickered.

"That was you?!" Rory fumed, oh how she scolded Itami so badly and would've sentenced him to death for 'teaching' them how to say that word. And now she finds out it was Keith, the guy who was good with kids, who's the culprit of the great 'Wanker Greeting Day'.

"Whoops." Keith snickered, not even looking like he had a shred of regret. He immediately ran around the group in a circle as Rory chased after him like a responsible older sister trying to catch a naughty younger brother. And no this does not end up in 'What are you doing step-bro/sis scenario...

Actually, given who these two are, I wouldn't be surprised if it did end up that way. Although, that would be the responsible step-bro and naughty step-sis... I should stop, shouldn't I? Yeah, I'll stop.

"As I said, secluded." Lelei calmly and plainly repeated herself as the wall blew up again, this time with a jet of water trying to douse the fires followed by more arguing and someone shouting for their mother before slaps and scolding was heard.

"I can see why." Carlson grumbled to himself, disappointed that the 'professors' here were quite irresponsible. These people were meant to be the masters of the new generation of wizards, and yet here they were blowing up their own study rooms and research papers.

The group walked into the District of Research & Development, passing by other students that either ignored them or gawked at Lelei. They eventually stopped in front of a door and Lelei knocked with her staff — she wasn't really keen on getting blown up should the door fly off.

"Who is it?" the voice of an elderly woman spoke from the other side. "It's Lelei." the young mage informed. As soon as she said who she was, a series of loud footsteps could be heard running towards the door before it fully swung open, the person who exited narrowly bumps into Keith as the kitsune just stood there frozen in surprise at the sudden arrival of the person.

The person was an ecstatic elderly woman that was so happy to see Lelei, the blue haired girl not even dropping her blank facade. "It's been a long time." she kindly said despite her blank look.

"Oh! My oh dear oh my oh my oh my oh dear oh my oh dear!" the woman excitedly freaked out, surprising the fuck out of the six World Jumpers due to how fucking fast she was speaking. It wasn't insanely fast mind you, it's just if you repeat the same words over and over for a while and jumble them up, you're bound to confuse the person listening to you.

"Is it really you?!" the woman asked, excitement not even dying down, "Awh, Lily!" "Um, it's Lelei." the aqua haired girl corrected. "Oh is that right? Well, I think Lily is a little cuter. Why don't we change it to Lily starting today?" offered the woman.

And for once, Lelei showed a different emotion: an unamused face, "No thank you." she replied. "Well! Well now, please do come in all of you, please! Welcome Everyone!" she cheerfully greeted the rest of the group.

Keith and Carlson blinked at her cheerfulness and excitedness, Zane and the Yuuki cousins just looked at her like she was crazy, and Toyokami held on to Tuka's hand.

"Call me crazy, but I think she's crazier." Toyokami whispered to her girlfriend. "I still think you're crazier to an extent." Tuka said, chuckling nervously at the end.

"She's... certainly..." Carlson paused, trying to find the right word, "...eccentric..." "I was gonna say cheerful but that works too. Too well, to be honest." Keith admitted.

The Yuuki cousins didn't have to look at each other before they both went the way they came, only to be stopped by Zane pulling them back. "Nuh-uh, we're suffering together." Zane declared.

The group entered the building and not long after their entrance, they heard a scream from Keith's room and Keith simply stood there. "I'VE BEEN FARMING FOR BOOKS AND THERE'S A LIBRARY THERE THIS WHOLE TIME?! WHY DIDN'T I JUST PUT THE ENCHANTING TABLE THERE!" the voice of Ashley screamed in disparity from Keith's room.

Apparently, Ashley may have built a railway towards Rondel but never once visited the city itself. Meanwhile, Argus, Raphtalia, Yenova, and Keel flinched at the volume. They definitely were not expecting Ashley to scream at the top of her lungs, she just wasn't the kind of person to do something like that.

The French girl had to be escorted back to her VR room and continue her mining trip by Kara and Keith. Meanwhile, the group was forced to continue listening to the elderly woman named Mimoza La Mer, a grand master ranked mage of the academy.

She pulls out a letter and unseals it, "Here, let's look at this," she begins reading, "I see, I see..." she muttered loudly before putting the paper down, "So that's what happened. Ah, this is great Lily." She finished reading the entire thing in under three seconds flat.

Carlson could've sworn she already read through it before and just resealed it because there was no way anyone could read that fast. Unless the paper had little to nothing in it then that would be reasonable. However, the more he was spending time here in Rondel, the more he was seeing logic fall apart before his very eyes. To him, Rondel is just a city wide university full of both extraordinary and delinquent students and professors alike.

"My name is Lelei." Lelei once more corrected the grandmaster. "And here I thought you were way too young to achieve a master's title. But as far as I can tell from Cato's letter, your achievements are outstanding." the grandmaster complimented.

"You've heard from Cato?" Lelei asked, to which the grandmaster confirmed with a simple "Yes." "May I ask, where is Arpeggio?" wondered the girl. "Well, she just went out to go shopping." the woman answered.

"Oh, by the way Lily," the woman began and stood up from her desk, "Would you mind helping me? We need some chairs for all the guests." she began walking, still focused on Lelei. "Um, my name is Lelei..." Lelei repeated, very unamused now as she was beginning to sound like a broken record that's constantly repeating itself.

Like Takahashi the robot noodle cook, best noodle maker in the Commonwealth by the way, from Fallout 4 that constantly replies with the same sentence no matter what you say to him.

And cue Mimoza crashing into a pile of books due to not looking where she was going. Carlson would've warned her but too late. "Mhm, smoke for breakfast. Delicious." Keith joked, making Zane chuckle, remembering the time Keith said the same thing when Filo transformed in front of him and the smoke cloud she produced when doing so was puffed towards him.

"Dà tuán zhǎng, xiǎoxīn. {Grandmaster, look out.}" Owen whispered to his cousin, who chuckled at the reference.

"Are you okay?" asked Lelei, concerned. "Oh dear, I'm so very clumsy, oh dear. Just look at me." she cheerfully jokes. "Are you okay, ma'am?" Carlson asked, knowing she was alright due to the way she bumped into that stack of books on purpose.

"Grandmaster!" the voice of a young woman shouted from down the hall. The shout wasn't out of concern towards the elderly woman however. As the person arrives, she screams in disbelief at the scene before her. "WAIFU!" Toyokami, the Yuuki cousins, and Zane shouted in excitement, though it was drowned out by the woman's louder scream.

"Oh, Arpeggio, oh my oh dear, I'm so sorry." the woman apologized. "Grand Master! I told you not to make a mess of things while I was gone!" berated the brown haired young adult. "Oh my, oh dear," sweatdropped the grandmaster.

"Urgh!" the woman groans in frustration, "Honestly, I will clean all of this up, so just get out of the way alright?! Please, just stay away for a while!" "Oh, listen," the grandmaster chimed in, catching Arpeggio in surprise, "While you were out, Lily dropped by to see us."

"Lily? Who the heck is that?" Arpeggio asked, confused. "Urgh! It's Lelei." Lelei corrected, making Arpeggio look at her in surprise before she frowned.

"Grand Master, would you please get us a table at a regular restaurant. I will be there shortly," Arpeggio calmly said, "I have a sister who is about to test for master mage, meanwhile her older sister will still be working towards her doctorate. My younger sister is flirting around with attractive men while her older sister still has no experience with them at all. My younger sister who apparently galivants with the rich and famous while her older sister struggles to get by. And oh yes, little sister, who travels with elves and divine apostles, she's so great! We certainly have lots and lots of catching up to do." Arpeggio began to rant, not even stopping for a breath.

Meanwhile Carlson blinked and was torn between complimenting her for ranting for that long, and looked at Lelei — who for once had a bead of cold sweat on her face. The Yuuki cousins, however, had a different reaction to hearing Arpeggio's rant.

Kai unsheathes his sword and grabs it on reverse grip. "Seppuku?" Owen asked, pulling out a dagger from his boot. "Seppuku." Kai confirmed. Toyokami grabbed her pistol and slid the slide before pointing it under her jaw. Zane unsheathed his smaller blade, "For once, I agreed." The three blade holders began to point their blades at their own stomachs.

"NO!" screamed Tuka, Yao, and Carlson, trying to stop Toyokami, Zane, and Kai respectively. "Oh no you don't. You're not going back to Hardy, bonehead." Rory said as she slapped the dagger out of Owen's hand.

Keith shook his head, knowing full well why they had that reaction. If a character talks way too much way too fast, they're bound to be an annoying character that will continuously keep talking till you either get the urge to kill them to shut them up or just end yourself to get away from them. And usually, the latter option is better than the former, that way you wouldn't be fined for murder.

Keith remembered one certain character who acts just like Arpeggio did now and that was none other than Malty "Myne" S Melromarc, aka Bitch "Slut" Whore. That woman just wouldn't shut the fuck up.

And to be honest, Lelei and Arpeggio's relationship as sisters right now is beginning to remind him of Malty and Melty's. Differences though, Arpeggio is more tolerable and doesn't fully hate her sister, she's just jealous.

"Ms La Lalena, is she by any chance..." Carlson asked, still stopping Kai from murdering himself. "Yes," Lelei said, looking unamused by her sister's rant of jealousy, "She's my sister, Arpeggio."

Zane briefly stopped himself from murdering himself before looking at Arpeggio then at Lelei, Arpeggio and Lelei, Arpeggio and Lelei, and back and forth two more times. "How is she your sister? She looks nothing like you, especially on the chest depa– AGH!" Zane was blasted out of the room by an annoyed Lelei.

The group heads out to the restaurant. Along the way, Carlson had a question. "Lelei, how is Arpeggio your sister?" "She's my step-sister." Lelei bluntly answered. "Well, that answers that question. What about your family? Mother and father to be exact?" Carlson inquired further.

Lelei stiffened a little at that but otherwise kept walking with the group. "We Rurodo are nomads, I don't know who my father is. And my mother is..." Lelei trailed off, clearly not comfortably with the subject. "Lelei came to Cato before she was even ten and soon became his disciple." Mimoza said, seeing how uncomfortable Lelei was.

"I see, she's quite the student if she was that quick to advance in her studies at such a young age." Carlson complimented, not prying further into Lelei's familial matters. "Sorry if my question bothered you, Ms Lalena." he apologized, which Lelei accepted.

They took a small break at the courtyard by the fountain. "I would like to introduce you to her properly," Lelei began, "This is Mimoza, she's a grand master and a great sage. She's one of the elders of Rondel."

"Nice to meet you," she cheerfully greeted. "She's master Cato's senior and took in Arpeggio as her disciple. She's incredibly knowledgeable in natural history." Lelei informed, peeking at both Carlson and Keith's interests.

"These are Yao Ro Dushi and Tuka Luna Marceau." Lelei introduced, remembering that Yao now worships Rory rather than Hardy, so her middle name was changed to Ro instead of Ha.

"What sort of events would lead to an elf and a dark elf happily going on a trip together?" Mimoza curiously yet cheerfully inquired, getting a sweatdrop and look of awkwardness from Yao and Tuka. "It's a very long story..." the two awkwardly answered. "I'd love to hear it later." Mimoza said before looking at Rory.

"So, how long has it been Rory?" Mimoza casually greeted the apostle like they were old friends. "Eh?/Huh?" five of the six World Jumpers exclaimed in confusion. "You two know each other?" Tuka asked, curious. "I had no idea..." Lelei said, shocked.

"Of course she would," Keith remarked, not even surprised, "Rory's over nine hundred years old, she's bound to know some people who are now in their elderly years."

"Hehe, we traveled together a while back. About fifty years ago or so, doesn't that sound right?" Mimoza said. "That is not a while." Carlson remarked. "Rōrī-san nida yo. {It is to Rory-san.}" Kai said.

Rory giggled, "Mimoza, you've gotten so old." she teased. "Oh my, yes I am. I've earned some wrinkles haven't I? Sure you're jealous." she cheerfully said, making Rory pout. Keith saw that look in Rory's face, she wasn't just jealous, she was sad. Sad that the grand master was going old and also that she herself will never grow as old as Mimoza will.

"So, I heard you went on a little holiday on the other side of the gate. What was it like over there?" Mimoza asked, making Rory drop her sad pout and look excited to talk about something other than age. "It was just lovely. The streets were nice and impeccably clean." Rory answered.

"Every shop has a wide variety of products. And they looked like they were doing well." Tuka answered. "I especially like their wonderful bookstores!" Lelei said in awe, remembering the libraries and bookstores they visited.

"Um, witch gal?" Owen said, trying to catch her attention but she was too focused on reminiscing. "They had books from every field you can think of. Sold it even for very affordable prices, even for the commoners." Lelei reminisced. "Commoners can buy books?" Mimoza said, surprised by that.

Keith and Carlson were the only ones who were well knowledgeable about history to remember that books in the medieval times were very expensive and the only ones who read were nobles and those of higher standing. One of the most famous people they knew who was illiterate was Joan of Arc, the French saint was a commoner after all so she didn't really get that much knowledge from studying.

Zane knew about that from Keith as they discussed it in the Rising of the Shield Hero universe since even Raphtalia herself had trouble reading. Filo was an exception as she is literally a baby in the body of a child but surprisingly, she was very fast at picking up different languages. He still remembered the day he and the others were having breakfast and Filo came down greeting them with "Good morning everyone" in full English.

"In Japan, the ability to publish books is very accessible. There was even a market with books by amateurs for sale." Lelei added, indirectly calling doujinshi's amateur level at best. Kai knew better though and pouted at that.

"Oh dear, oh dear," Mimoza clasped her hands together, "That will be incredible to have books for everyone." "Oh no, no, no, no, no!" Arpeggio voiced out her dislike for that, "That's one thing that can never ever happen! Never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever!" she declared.

"If my magic encyclopedia, that I copied by hand night after night after night, were to go down in price... Do you have any idea how much time and effort I put into just one of those manuscripts?" her continuous ranting became impossible for Keith to understand further as Lelei began to talk over.

"One of Arpeggio's jobs is as a scribe writing books. She's upset at how cheap they are to make and how easy her job is." Lelei summed up. "Her speciality is mineral magic, which can be rather pricey in order to maintain." Grand Master Mimoza added in.

Zane perked up at the words 'mineral magic', which he was instantly reminded of Therese Alexanderite. "Huh, I know a woman who specializes in mineral magic too. Gemstones specifically." Zane said. "I bet you she'll react this way too if being a writer is her part time job." Keith joked, pointing at the now crouched Arpeggio, who was scratching her hair as she continued to rant panickily.

Lelei crouches in front of her and places a hand on her shoulder. "Now don't worry," Lelei pats her shoulder, "I'm sure the price won't drop right away. That will be far into the future." Lelei assures Arpeggio, who looked like she was about to cry.

"Sure about that?" Arpeggio worriedly asked. Lelei didn't answer so the step-sister took that as a yes. "Wah! Why didn't you say so?! Are you trying to scare me?!" she whined as she once again ranted, now stood up, making Lelei look at her with a deadpan stare as she stood up.

"Anyway, like I said, she's a mineral specialist." Mimoza sighed fondly at her apprentice. "That's good to know." Zane said as he nudged Keith, "Keith over here is an accessory smith so they'll work together just fine."

"Truly now?" Mimoza said, impressed. "Yes, Zane and I were once traveling merchants in a different world. I picked up accessory crafting from the merchant who taught me the art of trading." Keith smiled, remembering Hickwal back in the Rising of the Shield Hero world.

"Do you think you can help the commander with his accessory making?" Carlson asked Arpeggio before Keith realized what he asked and was too late to stop him. Arpeggio stops with her ranting and fixes herself, mainly brushing her hair properly.

"Why sure, I'll be happy to help." she said, gladly, as some of the hair she brushed down flipped back up. Carlson so badly wanted to question the logic of that but an embarrassed Keith bonking him in the back of the head stopped him from doing so.

Keith then saw Rory once again looking at the stone carving on display, which shows the Gate and the various carvings of people praising it. "Are you curious?" the grand master asked Rory, "You seem to be very interested in that picture." "Oh no, not really." Rory playfully lied.

"Glad you came even if you were just tagging along. I've been wanting to give you an answer to the homework you gave me." the grand master said. "Shukudai? {Homework?}" Kai asked. "That's correct. I gave her a problem to resolve before we parted ways. To answer why there are such varied species in this world."

"I'm going to guess the answer has something to do with the Gate, correct?" Carlson asked, looking at the carving, specifically the one that looks an awfully lot like the Gate's shape. "That is correct!' Mimoza cheerfully confirmed.

"To iu koto wa... {So that means...}" Kai trailed off, realizing what Carlson was getting. "Every single race within the Special Region is just like the SDF, once from a world of their own." Keith confirmed. "And chose to stay," Carlson finished, "Why?"

"Carlson, there are so many answers for why, and not everyone will have the same one," Keith said almost philosophically, "But as the great French poet, Anatole France, once said: 'The greatest virtue of man is perhaps curiosity'," he quoted, "They were so curious to what this world had to offer, they refused to go back. That's my take of it, at least."

"Damn, Keith. Never knew you were a Shakespear person." Zane said. Keith groaned, "For fucks sake Z, I just said Anatole France is a French poet! Shakespear is English! And he's not even a poet, he's a playwright!"

"Oh you did not just call me a noob." Zane said, confusing Keith, "Don't tell me to play right." "Play– No! Playwright! P-L-A-Y-W-R-I-G-H-T!" Keith clarified, "It means a person who writes a play." "Why didn't you just call him a play writer then?!" Zane argued. "You– I– Just– GRAH! I did, ya fuck!" Keith fumed.

"No, you said 'play right'!" Zane argued on, but it was clear he's just messing with Keith at this point. "No, you dumb fuck! I said 'playwright'!" Keith argued right back. "See, you just said it!" Zane shouted back. "NO! I– ARGH!" Keith raged before just dunking himself into the fountain.

"O...kay..." Toyokami trailed off, "Welp, we should all go to the restaurant now." "I concur. I'll grab the commander." Carlson said as the group continued to the restaurant/tavern while he grabbed Keith, who for whatever reason dunked himself into the fountain, whether because he wanted to cool off or to just do it because he could, who knows.

People in the real world sometimes do random things out of nowhere like flipping over tables, or doing food mukbangs, or listening to ASMR videos, or buying over expensive gaming chairs (PewDiePie gaming chairs for $399), or sometimes a bottle of bath water of some famous e-girl (Belle Delphine Bath Water), or just jumping off a building because life just gave them the middle finger... Like I said, people in the real world can sometimes do random things out of nowhere. Keith included.

As they got to the restaurant, Mimoza began explaining just how each and every race always pointed to the direction of Alnus Hill each time they were questioned where their species once came from. From elves like Tuka and Yao, to demi-humans like Persia and Keith's avatar, to dragonoids like Giselle, to goblins, Mer-people, Warrior Bunnies, and even humans themselves. They all came from the Gate and settled her on Falmart long, long ago.

Although, when Mimoza was explaining the origins of the elves, it was similar to that of the story of Adam and Eve. One male elf and one female elf, led and guided by a god to a forest of origin. Adam being the male elf, Eve the female, the god being God, and the forest being the Garden of Eden. The fact that every elf tribe had almost the similar origin story meant that they all came from the same place, the place they all pointed to, Alnus Hill.

According to Mimoza's theory, the Gate lays dormant for a few hundred years up to a thousand before it activates. And with each activation, a new series of species comes through the gate. Some would wage war against the inhabitants of the Special Region while others would make peace. And the most recent addition was the humans, the Sadera Empire and those that currently dominate most of the world.

The interval of these activations usually depends but according to Keith, it probably has something to do with the new species' performance and impact on the world. Should the recent species grow dominant across the world, a new set of species from a different world is brought forth to combat the dominant one.

"If I may speak commander," Carlson requested, getting a nod from Keith, "Your theory makes it seem like this world is but a terrarium. Like how ants build colonies and wage war on the new ones to arrive or grow some form of symbiotic relationship with each other."

"It's not far off to be honest," Keith shrugged, "Think about it, why would the Gate open up in the middle of Japan in the year 2015 when it could've, I don't know, open up somewhere around Rome during the time of Nero, or in Sparta during the time of Leonidas, or even in Japan but during the samurai era, or maybe even a different world that fits the same mold as the previous ones — that being the fantasy setting. But instead, it's in Japan in the 'modern' era." Keith explained the reasoning for his theory.

"Kare no iu koto ni mo ichiriaru. {He does have a point.}" Kai remarked, making everyone look at him, "Kenryoku-sha ni kyōkun o ataeru tamedenai kagiri, naze Nihon de Gēto ga hiraku no ka. {Why would the Gate open in Japan unless it is to teach those in power a lesson?}"

Kai's words did have a point there. Why exactly did the Gate open in Japan in the year 2015, it doesn't fit the same mold as everything else. There was only one logical reason, it was to serve as an example to the Empire that there will always be an empire that's stronger that will come from beyond the Gate.

"Very well done, Mimoza. You've managed to get these children who can travel beyond the stars to make theories of their own." Rory complimented. "Oh dear! Thank you ma'am! I'm finally free, oh thank gods!" Mimoza cheered.

"I'm pretty sure Rory knew those already." Keith joked. "For the most part," confirmed the apostle, "It is but the gods' will in the end. Demigods like myself only follow their will and do our duty to protect this world," she explained, glancing at Mimoza, "At times, we guide those who exhibit high potential," then at her halberd that was leaning on the extra chair with Lelei and Arpeggio's staffs, "And sometimes, we have to eliminate those who venture astray."

"It's how we maintain harmony for all who live with us in this realm." Rory said. "Sounds like slavery and control to me." Zane snarked.

"I quite agree with Mr Grayson's statement," Carlson said, "I suppose if we were to look at this world like it's a terrarium, you and the other demigods would act like the caretakers and guards while the gods themselves are the owners."

Lelei thought about it before realizing, "I don't think I have heard that story before." "That's because it's MY research that I spent years studying. I don't think Cato is very interested in much history." the grand master tells her.

"That's what I've been telling you all along!" Arpeggio says to her unamused step-sister, shaking her slightly, "Instead of just learning from one person, staying here allows you to learn several points of view."

Lelei politely removes her step-sister's hand on her shoulder. "If I stayed here, I couldn't try for the rank of master for a very long time." Lelei told her. "That may be true," Arpeggio pouted, "But maybe you would've learned more."

"Actually, both of you are right and wrong at the same time," Keith chimed in, making the two look at him curiously, "Learning from one person is a guaranteed way to become a master in 'one' particular craft. The cons of that is your versatility is lacking. Learning from multiple people gives you a wide variety of versatility to begin with, but mastering them becomes tedious due to having so many."

"A good example of the first one is Zane. Due to him preferring sword over magic, his mastery towards swordsmanship is clearly better than the latter. Because of that, his skills towards magic are clearly lacking," Keith points to Zane, who looked offended. Sure his Cloud Strife variant was from Advent Children, a movie that barely showed Cloud utilizing materia, so he barely had magic prowess to begin with.

"And for the second one is Owen," Keith points at Owen, who looks offended, "While he has a versatile set of magical spells, he barely has any mastery over them." "Well facka yu too den!" Owen snarked, flipping Keith off.

"I see." the two hummed in acknowledgement, taking in his words. "So then, what is it you're going to be presenting Lily? I'd love to hear what you've been working on." Mimoza said, excited.

Lelei opens her sling bag and pulls out her laptop, a few funnels falling out of the bag as she did. "Funnels?" Toyokami asked as Lelei went to pick them up with the help of the gentleman named Carlson. She shows them the funnel, "They have the right properties and shape to show the Munroe Effect. They're cheap, disposable, and don't look dangerous, the perfect qualities for studying magic."

"Heh, give that to John Wick and he'd kill a man with it." Zane jokes, making the group chuckle. "Nàme... Shì shénme xiàoguǒ? {So... what's the effect again?}" Owen asked, not getting what Lelei said.

"Munroe Effect, it's basically the penetration of the explosion caused by a cone shape or hollow hemispherical end of the cartridge." Carlson answered, only getting head tilts and looks of even more confusion from the rest of the World Jumpers except Keith. "Basically, she plans to use the funnels as magic RPG rounds." Keith simplified for them, getting 'Oh's and 'Ah's from the group.

"I don't remember that being in the anime." Toyokami whispered to Keith, who answered with: "Must be in the manga." "I don't remember seeing those in the manga." Toyokami said, almost factually. "Well, the manga did only officially release volumes one to three, which I recall was chapters one to twenty four. So, I guess it's in the light novel." Keith shrugged.

While they were having that discussion, Lelei began setting up her laptop. "What's that thing?" Arpeggio asked. "It's a device from the Japanese." Lelei said, as she brought up the Word document that had her presentation.

"Oh gods! With this, no one would ever need books anymore! Ah!" Arpeggio panicked while Lelei's face was a deadpan. "Look at that, it's even more amazing inside. She's incorporating her knowledge from another world into the framework of magic," Mimoza said, impressed as she slid the laptop over, "This might be able to make even the most stubborn of old mages shut up and listen for once."

Arpeggio just had a look of worry on her face before it turned into one of defeat, "My own little sister, she has completely surpassed me. I hate this! I've got no money and my sister's way ahead of me. I've been working on my research for years and gotten absolutely nowhere, maybe I just don't have any talent..."

While she was ranting, the World Jumpers felt a familiarity with her. "She's starting to remind me of Risa." Zane whispered to the rest, who all nodded in agreement. "Tarinai no wa kekkon dakeda. {All that is missing is marriage.}" Kai said as Keith raised an index finger.

"Wait, I know! I'll get married and start a family!" Arpeggio had a revelation, to which Keith pointed at her. "Soko ni sore ga aru. {There it is.}" Kai chuckled along with everyone else.

"Hey, are any of you five single?" Arpeggio asked, getting looks of incredulously from the five boys, Keith even recoiling so much he fell backwards. "Oh!" the rest exclaimed as they looked if he was okay, "Anata wa daijōbu? {Are you okay?}" Kai asked, helping Keith up, getting a nod from the kitsune.

"Are you alright father?" Tuka asked worriedly as Keith sat back down after dusting himself off. "I'm fine." Keith assured.

"Keith Levi, the leader of the World Jumpers, a group of warriors from an advanced civilization capable of traveling through different worlds without the use of the Gate. He is also the archduke of the kingdom of Melromarc, a kingdom from the world he and his partner, Zane Grayson, visited prior to ours. Along with being an archduke, he is also the lord of the village of Lurolona, a fishing town. In addition, he now holds a title of nobility in the kingdom of Elbe, and grand patriarch of a dark elf tribe." Lelei formally listed down as Arpeggio wrote those down.

"A demi-human with an elf child... How is that even possible?" Arpeggio asked, confused. "Adopted." Keith bluntly answered, making Tuka puff her cheek. "Okay, what about finances?" Arpeggio continued. "Wait, are you guys seriously–" Keith was about to ask but Yao cut in.

"He's in possession of a large rare diamond the size of a man's head," "Of course you are..." Keith muttered as Yao continued, "...but handed it to his adopted sister, Ashley Miles, who would be considered a goddess of architecture. He also owns a café he co-owns with a fellow World Jumper, Argus Raymond, in Alnus Hill and is once and still a very persuasive traveling merchant and a capable adventurer."

"Don't forget to add god of war in his résumé." Toyokami jokes, making the World Jumpers chuckle while Arpeggio looks at him like he was literally a god amongst men. "Is he married?" she nervously asked.

"He's currently single." Rory answered. "That's perfect!" both Arpeggio and Mimoza exclaimed in excitement. "Zane isn't though, he's in a relationship with the queen of Melromarc and is one of the reasons why Keith's its kingdom's archduke." Toyokami said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Actually, he's not single." Carlson bluntly said. "Carlson!" Keith shouted, shocked that Carlson of all people would snitch on him. "WHAT?!" shouted the girls except Mimoza. "You better explain yourself right now!" Rory demanded.

"Keith completed the three night's ceremony with Lelei unknowingly." Carlson bluntly said, confusing everyone. "The entire week we spent in Crete, you spent most of the nights in Lelei's room. And even then, you stalking and scaring Itami during the night at the camp three and a half months ago, during our stay at Ms Risa's place the night after, and you watching over everyone at Hakune the night after that one only further proves the point you already completed the ceremony along with Itami."

Everyone just blinked and looked at Keith for answers. "I-I... did not mean to do that... I forgot that ceremony existed." Keith lied as he did know it existed, he just didn't realize he was a qualifier as Lelei's betrothed. Thank goodness no one knows about him and Sherry yet.

"Now wait just a second! I slept with him just as long, if not longer!" Tuka pointed out, while Toyokami gawked. "Tuka!" she exclaimed, feeling betrayed that her girlfriend would say something like that.

"Keith." a bone chilling voice said as Rory stood up, a murderous look on her face. "Unbelievable, all this time I constantly try to have you take me, it turns out you were too busy getting frisky with other girls. Care to enlighten me, lover boy?" Rory asked, halberd raising to cut him down like the guillotine.

Like any sane person would do in this scenario, you manned up, "You call me lover boy yet Zane's the one here who approves of a harem." and bring someone else down with you.

"WHA– WHAT THE FUCK KEITH!" Zane shouted in disbelief that Keith would just out him like that. "Oh really now? A married man allowing himself to have a group of ladies to himself?" Rory said, licking her lips with murderous intent.

"Toyokami is gay for Mamina," Zane outed, "And did the thing with her," he added. "WAS ZUM TEUFEL?! {WHAT THE FUCK?!}" Toyokami shouted as Tuka looked at Toyokami in shock along with Keith. "Toyo!" Tuka shouted in disbelief. "I-I did not do that! Zane is making that shit up!" Toyokami defended herself.

"Mā, kanojo ga mamīna to issho ni iku no wa mitakedo ne. {Well, I did see her go with Mamina.}" Kai chimed in. "DU HÄLTST DEN MUND, DU SAMURAI-FICK! {YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU SAMURAI FUCK!}" Toyokami roared, fuming, "WIE WÄRE ES, WENN ICH KUROKAWA VOR DEINEN AUGEN FICKE, JA?! {HOW ABOUT I FUCK KUROKAWA IN FRONT OF YOU, YEAH?!}"

"What is even happening?" Carlson asked, wondering how his answer devolved into this mess while Owen was just enjoying the show of everyone trying to murder each other or having lovers quarrel or drama.

Carlson received an answer to his question and that's a slap in the groin from Keith, making him cry out and groan in pain. As the chaos continued, the only people who noticed Arpeggio stand up and rant to herself was Lelei and Keith, who was holding back a murderous Rory from slamming her halberd on him.

"Defeated yet again..." Arpeggio muttered, eyes looking dead and completely defeated, "My sister has bested me academically, financially, and romantically... It's almost as if I have no dignity as an older sister. There's only one thing left to do. Do not hesitate, this is necessary for the further of our sisterhood." Arpeggio walks over to Lelei before slamming a bowl of soup over her head, dousing the girl in its contents and surprising the rest long enough for them to stop fighting and look in shock at the scene before them.

The only one who was clearly excited for this was Mimoza, who was repeatedly shouting "Oh my" and "Oh dear" over and over. "Guys, can we just forget everything we said earlier and focus on this?" Keith suggested, getting nods from the group, even Rory nodded. Keith inwardly sighed in relief that they'll finally drop the topic.

"Now do you admit defeat?" Arpeggio challenged, smirking as Lelei looked unamused and glared challengingly right back.

"IT'S A FIGHT! IT'S A FIGHT!" one of the other patrons shouted as he ran out of the restaurant, "IT'S A FIGHT BETWEEN MAGES! AND BOTH OF THEM ARE WOMEN! ONE OF THEM'S MISS ARPEGGIO!" The group could still hear him screaming as both Lelei and Arpeggio went outside with their weapons of choice in tow.

"What? The Iron Alfe?" question one of the scholars. "Who's she fighting?!" asked another. "Some fifteen year old named Lelei!" shouted the one running around announcing it, "It's a fight! They're at Marina's Shop!" And just like that, everyone ran to go see the fight. But not all of them had good intentions.

Lelei was equipped with her staff while Arpeggio had a ring with three chained beads of jewelry attached to it. Mimoza whispered to Rory something and Rory nodded with a smile as she got up on a wooden crate and held her halberd, the butt of its staff by her mouth like it was a mic.

"As of now the thirteenth battle of the Lalena sisters is approved, in the name of me!" Rory said like she was some idol, even doing the 🤟 gesture (aka the ASL way of saying I love you) by her winking eye after a twirl, "The rules are simple: You are not allowed to kill your opponent, that's very important. There are to be no unsightly marks to the face or you shall answer to me, understand? As long as you follow those rules, everything else is fair game. Destroy houses or the city, I don't care."

"Why are they fighting? Is this okay?" Carlson asked, worried for both the bystander's safety, their safety, the sisters' safety, and the safety of the city itself given that Rory just said she didn't care for property damage.

"Then you clearly haven't seen anime sibling rivalry. Or sibling rivalry in general." Toyokami shrugged. "I don't watch anime. And I have no siblings." Carlson plainly told her. "Oh..." Toyokami muttered, pursing her lips and gave him a look of apology that he didn't see.

"Are you ready?" Rory riled up, raising her halberd as both Lelei and Arpeggio got ready — the latter pointed her staff at her sister while the other spun the chained beads around like a sling. An aura shone around their bodies, acting like the auras from the RWBY series.

As soon as "Go!" left Rory's lips, the older sister attacked. Her spinning weapon hurled projectiles of energy like a sling towards Lelei, who ran to avoid them. And they were firing out at the speed of a machine gun as each time the chains spun, they fired out. Thankfully, there was a barrier protecting the bystanders.

"Whoa, what the...!" Carlson exclaimed as he was surprised by Arpeggio's form of magic. "You like it? Arpeggio uses minerals as a catalyst so she can skip the laws of physics and interfere with the principles." Mimoza answered. "So it is like Ms Alexanderite's magic, albeit different workings but similar nonetheless." Carlson muttered to himself.

"Should they really be fighting like this? I feel like this sibling rivalry has gone too far from how it should normally go." Carlson remarked. "It is a normal wizard fight though." Mimoza said nonchalantly as Lelei fired back and unleashed a powerful blast of explosion magic that launched her sister through a building.

"Tā sǐle ma? {Is she dead?}" Owen curiously asked, not really bothered she got blasted through the building. "Iya. {No.}" Kai plainly answered.

Arpeggio's aura flickers slightly but is still active as she sits up. She screams in panic as she runs away from Lelei's attacks that blasted through more buildings. As she turned the corner, she immediately slung more projectiles towards Lelei, who blocked it.

"That aura, it kinda looks like Owen's magic armor." Zane remarked. "Because it is. Think of the aura from RWBY." Keith summed, getting a nod of acknowledgement from Zane. Keith looks amongst the crowd and blinks a few times before rubbing his eyes. Was he hallucinating Spock from Star Trek in the crowd, specifically the one from Star Trek 1966?

(A/N: The one on the left)

Keith ignored it for now but did put it into thought for later. Lelei looks up and sees more projectiles appearing and homing in on her, forcing her to run away and evade them before boosting herself up on the roof of a building via magic.

She then whispers a chant on her staff, causing its staff head to glow, before riding on it like a witch and taking to the sky to gain the high ground against her step-sister. Said step-sister runs away to evade Lelei's magic blast, yet again destroying more property.

"Stupid, idiot, genius." Arpeggio grumbled before gripping the ring tightly and began twirling it rapidly, summoning more and more projectiles to her beck and call as she spun around like some fluid dancer.

Lelei, seeing her big attack, enhances the speed of her staff. "My special attack, Big Sister's Authority! Hyah!" she shouts, throwing her hand towards Lelei, prompting the projectiles to fly towards Lelei. The aqua haired girl continues to fly around in an attempt to evade them.

However, it wasn't enough as some of them have begun catching up, exploding beside her and nearly knocking her off course. She flew higher but they kept following till they eventually caught up and blew up like fireworks.

Lelei falls back down to the ground but Arpeggio notices her aura glow red, meaning she wasn't out yet. She drops her ring of chained beads to the side before grabbing a coin from her satchel and aiming it, coin flip style, like her name is Misaka Mikoto from A Certain Scientific Railgun.

Lelei managed to get her bearings and use her staff to fly towards Arpeggio, hanging on to it instead of riding it. Arpeggio flips the coin at Lelei, who yelps when it hits her forehead and slides on the ground but not before blasting her sister through a building once more with her explosion magic, making her yell at the force.

The two groaned as Arpeggio laid on the ground, aura breaking, the same time Lelei slid to a stop with a broken aura. The match ended with a tie.

The aqua haired girl's staff flew into the air as it still had the flight spell and fell down to hit Spock in the crowd, who fell unconscious and out of Keith's line of sight. "He didn't even do the salute." Keith snickered, doing the Vulcan salute (🖖).

Keith's alert shield then pinged, making him look at a cloaked man who stepped towards Lelei. He immediately switched his shield to the Boomerang Shield and threw it just as the assassin pulled out a crossbow and aimed it at Lelei.

The shield knocked the crossbow out of the man's hands just before he could fire it. Before he could recover, he was stabbed in the back by Grey Co Aldo, getting people to clamor that someone had just been killed in Rory's presence.

"Grey Co Aldo," she said, sternly, "This is 'My' holy battlefield and you have just brazenly soiled it. You better have some justification." "I suggest you and your people leave this place as soon as possible," Grey said, "I killed one assassin but there will be others on the way."

Keith's shield reappeared on his arm before looking at the assassin then his hand. He crouches down and places his hand on his head, hoping that the same thing that happened with Fitoria and Glass would work but nothing. He instead began patting the guy for anything but found nothing of interest except for a pouch of silver coins. "Come on, let's get out of here before more of them show up." Keith ordered.

The group heads out but Carlson reluctantly does so as he couldn't believe they were just going to leave while there was a giant hole on the buildings Lelei blasted Arpeggio through. Thankfully, there were promises that someone would fix it... Unfortunately...

"Mommy, where'd our house go?" a kid asked as a few people who lived where the giant hole would be just looked at the damage and then at the pouch of silver and gold and basket of fruits with the note, "Sorry" by the wall.

"I received an order from Princess Piña, I am to invite Lelei to the Imperial Capital so I came to Rondel to find her." Grey explains as the group was back at their room at the inn, with Lelei and Arpeggio taking a bath. "But when we were on the way here, we received information that there are assassins after her." Shandy said.

"Any idea who could've hired them?" Carlson asked. "It's only a speculation on my part, though I should probably avoid saying who I think it is." Grey replied.

"Ever since the head of the Flame Dragon was hung for all to see, Lelei's fame has been growing in the Imperial Capital," Shandy said, a little blush adorning her features as she kept glancing at the present six of the eight dragonslayers back and forth, "Whoever it is, they don't like sharing the spotlight with others."

"Naze ra Rena-san dake o nerau nodeshou ka? {Why would they only target Lalena-san?}" Kai asked. "That's because Madam Lelei isn't a foreigner or a non-human, she's one of the Empire's subjects!" Shandy explained.

"I am a Rurudo, I'm not an Imperial subject, nor do I want to be one." Lelei told her, walking in with a towel in hand and in fresh clothes, a bit ticked off at the fact that a nomad like her was classified as an Imperial citizen. "The people don't care about that, you accomplished something no one else was able to. No one in the Empire is interested in whether or not you are a nomad." Shandy waved off Lelei's statement.

"Hey, will you finally explain why they're after my stupid, jerk, sister?" Arpeggio demanded, pretty much as clean as Lelei is. "I still can't believe that fight earlier was only a battle between sisters." Grey mumbled as Arpeggio demanded an answer to what Lelei had to do with the Flame Dragon's head.

"She didn't tell her." Keith plainly told Grey and Shandy, who looked at Lelei for an explanation. "It wasn't important." Lelei said, dead serious, prompting Grey and Shandy to facepalm. "Your little sister joined arms with the others here, together they attacked and killed the Flame Dragon." Grey explained.

"Yeah, yeah, that's good," she said, not believing that one bit, "Come on, you're messing with me. I know she's smart and everything but she wouldn't be able to kill a Flame Dragon."

The group simply smirked knowingly or giggled awkwardly. "Could she?" Arpeggio nervously asked Rory and Keith, who both smiled and nodded. "IT'S TRUE?!" she exclaimed at Lelei, who nodded.

"And a certain individual didn't take kindly to it," Grey added in, "'There is no greater nuisance than a living hero, especially if they're one of those barbarians,'" he quoted, "In other words... It's out of jealousy..."

"How many assassins are we talking about?" Zane asked, grinning as he punched his fist against his palm. "We don't know how many assassins will come, but we know they will be quite skilled," Grey said, making Zane grin more along with Kai raising a brow, "It's likely the two of us won't be enough to handle them."

"I say, let 'em," Zane grinned, "I wanna kill some assassins." "Ri Vu~Ai-san wa dō osshaimasu ka? {What do you say, Levi-san?}" Kai asked, noticing how Keith was thinking.

"I have an idea," Keith said and looked at the rest of the group while lifting his thumb over the side of his index knuckle, meaning he wants them to log out. The other five nodded and logged out. "Give us a minute." Keith smiled before closing his eyes and 'meditating'.

< Next Day >

"This is your grand plan? Running away?" Rory asked, a bit annoyed. "We're not running, we're leading them away from Rondel. That's why we left in the morning so they could see us." Keith said, smirking.

The group discussed this for quite some time and came to the conclusion that if they, quote on quote, 'run away' then the assassin would follow them. It was a game of deception. Should the assassins be stupid and follow them away, they could just backtrack to Rondel on Giselle's dragons, which are faster than being on the wagon drawn by Kai's car.

All they've been doing is making camp after camp, staying there for quite some time and then heading out after a few minutes, and then making trail after trail that crosses between each other over and over so the assassin's didn't know where they went.

And it worked as two men on horseback followed the trail before seeing seven intersecting trails with the one they've been following, preventing them from knowing which one was the real one. They split up and found themselves jumped by either bioplant monsters that Keith left behind or fell on traps that Keith made.

The group made a quick pit stop at an abandoned mine just a few meters outside Rondel as Arpeggio, who joined the group along with Grey and Shandy, needed to grab a few minerals. In the mine were Keith, Kai, Carlson, Arpeggio, and Lelei — the rest were outside.

"This is... a tad too small for me." Grey muttered as he wore a pink shirt with a cat girl print on it, doing the love-you-gesture (🤟) with both hands upside down by her eyes, the words "Neko Neko Nee!" on her background. The shirt was Toyokami's size due to the boys not carrying any other spare shirts — spare clothes in general.

"It's bursting at the seams!" Rory exclaimed, laughing along with Zane and Owen, while Shandy, Tuka, and Toyokami giggled. Shandy herself is wearing borrowed clothing from Tuka, which thankfully fits.

"P-Please don't laugh so much, Your Holiness. We hurried here from the capital and didn't have time to pack spare clothes." Shandy excused between her own giggles. "I know, but it's just really funny to look at." Rory chuckled, her laughter dying down.

Tuka was wiping away her tears of mirth before looking at her cackling girlfriend, "You gave him that on purpose, didn't you?" "Whatever do you mean?" Toyokami jokingly challenged.

The group hears a faint roar from the abandoned mine the rest of the group entered and grew cautious, or if you're Rory — grew battle ready.

From within the cave, the group was running away from a giant lizard that was chasing after them. "You said this place was clear!" Keith shouts. "IT WASN'T HERE WHEN I VISITED LAST YEAR!" Arpeggio shouted, panicking.

Arpeggio unleashes a bunch of her spells above the creature, causing rocks and the roof to collapse. The group watched as a giant crack extended towards the mine entrance prompting them to run away faster. They briefly stopped when a figure fell from the hole on the roof with a loud *TICK*. A sound that a Minecraft player would be familiar with if their character took damage.

"Oowie.." Ashley moaned in pain, wincing at the impact and vibrations that shook her legs. "Huh? Oh, hey guys." Ashley waved like nothing was wrong before she yelped when Keith pulled her up to her feet and began dragging her to the exit of the collapsing mine.

The group sighed in relief when they got out of there before Keith finally acknowledged Ashley's presence. "Hey, Ash. Nice to see you here." he greeted. "Question, brother, where am I?" Ashley asked. "Rondel." Keith plainly answered.

"Oh, hello Ashley." Rory greeted along with everyone else. Arpeggio just looked at her in confusion, "Who is this?" "My adopted sister, Ashley Miles. She's our resident miner." Keith introduced before Arpeggio zipped past him and was in front of Ashley the instant she heard the word 'miner'.

"How many minerals have you mined? Can I have some of them? How good of a miner are you? Where have you been all my life?!" Arpeggio cried at the last bit, hugging Ashley tightly like she was some kind of savior.

"Help..." Ashley meekly begged, not wanting to put the woman away or one punch her to death by accident. Lelei and Yao struggled to pull Arpeggio, who cried bloody murder at being pulled away from Ashley, away from the Minecraftian girl. The only reason she let go was because the lizard creature– sorry, creatures burst through the mountain top and looked around for the group.

"DRIVE!" Keith yelled as the group got in the car or the wagon and got out of there before the lizards that saw them gave chase.

After a bit of driving away, Keith decided to head to play darts with a map copy to figure out where they were heading next to pass the time. However, it somehow felt rigged and he wasn't the only one to notice.

"Say, didn't that throw feel strange just then?" Rory asked. "Does it matter?" Zane asked, only for Keith to grab his head and turn it to the map, dragging Zane with him and pulling out the dart to show just where it landed. Bellnahgo.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Rory said, worry shown on her face. "Same here," Keith agreed, "Even with our invitation to Bellnahgo, it feels weird that we're being led there." "We also still have assassins on our tail, commander." Carlson added.

"Why not just try again?" Shandy suggested. "Yeah, just try again papa." Tuka agreed. Keith shrugged and threw the dart lower and it hit... Bellnahgo. Okay, now that just creeped the entire group out. "O-One more time?" Ashley asked.

Keith nodded in agreement and pulled the dart out and took a few steps back, this time he aimed higher, past Rondel and Bellnahgo, and threw it. Bellnahgo. "Okay, you're doing this on purpose." Zane glared, a bit creeped out. "Nen'notame? {Just in case?}" Kai suggested and Keith nodded.

Every single time Keith threw the dart, no matter the direction or trickshots he did, it always landed on Bellnahgo, the place where Hardy's Temple is located. Heck, even when Zane did it, it still landed on Bellnahgo. This was beginning to piss off Rory.

"Lemme try something." Toyokami said as she grabbed the dart and covered her eyes before throwing it. Result: Bellnahgo. "Bull-fucking-shit." the german girl swore.

"Lemme." Owen said before grabbing the dart and throwing it away in the opposite direction. "Done." he said and was about to walk away before he yelped when the dart zoomed past his face and hit the mark, none other than Bellnahgo. It was followed by a strong breeze. "Bullshit." he grumbled.

Carlson narrowed his eyes before grabbing the dart and stabbing it somewhere else on the map... Which worked.

Only for the wind to blow stronger and the dart, which was embedded into the tree, doesn't move but the paper does and it was forced into Bellnahgo once more — a line being ripped into the paper as it did.

The group glared at the map and dart, before Owen pulled out three more daggers and stabbed each of them — along with the original — on the corners of the map. He then stabbed the dart on the ground, even stepping on it and breaking the flight and shaft.

The group backed away and sighed in relief and were about to leave when lightning struck the tree, breaking it in half and setting it on fire along with the map. The remaining piece of the map flies towards Rory and Keith's feet, the dart even landing and rolling beside it. The remaining piece and the dart that landed beside it like an arrow pointed at the most obvious place.

< Bellnahgo >

A pissed off Rory laid her head on Keith's shoulder as she grumbled while everyone, seeing how lightning just smited the tree and burned everything in the map except for the piece that had Bellnahgo, made a silent agreement that they should head to the city lest they get smited.

Lelei even had a look of acceptance that they had to go there. Ashley didn't mind as she could probably trade her stuff there somewhere. It took them a while to get there, mainly because they began the journey towards there around mid afternoon and had to camp out for the night.

Somehow, during the night, Argus contacted them and said that he received a static message from his radio that told him to head to Bellnahgo. Keith, knowing that there was no point to argue, told Argus to use the underground railway to get to the city of Belnargo.

And boy oh boy did the seven World Jumpers find themselves a treat in the morning. Well, more of a treat for Zane, Toyokami, and Owen anyway.

Toyokami even tackled Tuka into a hug before pulling her into the tree house and doing something with the nude elf. Keith just sat down by the campfire and let it burn his face, which failed to do so because it was a Minecraft campfire but still did hurt him slightly but otherwise did no permanent damage.

The group was now in the city of Bellnahgo, which was pretty crowded as compared to Rondel or even Sadera. According to Carlson and his research about this world, and Keith's own knowledge, Bellnahgo is popular to pilgrims, especially those who wish to pray for their deceased family members and ancestors in the afterlife.

However, Rory cleared up a small confusion that Zane said, that being: "If Hardy is the goddess of the underworld, then how come Rory reacts the way she does when people die?" Rory's answer was plain and simple, "Those who fall in battle are brought to Emroy, my chief god." meaning that there was a difference in the form of death in the Special Region.

"Huh... It feels like Valhalla vs Heaven kind of scenario. All those who die in general would go to Heaven while those who die in battle would go to Valhalla." Zane chimed. "Elysium works too but I get your point." Keith shrugged.

"Valhalla vs Heaven? Elysium?" Rory questioned. "You see, on Earth — the world the SDF comes from and where we come from in an alternate universe — there are different kinds of beliefs here and there. One of the earliest beliefs was from the Greek empire, the underworld is kinda like a desolate place where souls of the dead are sent upon death and Elysium is the paradise where heroes that were granted blessings by the gods were sent." Keith explained.

"Sounds like those gods are very picky." Rory said, seeing how only blessed heroes were allowed to enter Elysium. "Hah! You have no idea." Keith snarked, remembering just how fucked up the Greek mythology is, especially when it comes to their gods. How Zeus isn't the god of perversion, he has no idea.

"Heaven on the other hand is from Christianic belief where it is a peaceful paradise where the Father of the universe, appropriately capitalily named: God, resides and loves his children. Hell is its counterpart, where all the sinners and damned are casted towards upon death. Which I believe is bullshit because if God loves all, then why does Hell exist in the first place?" Keith snarked.

"You don't sound fond of this religion." Rory said. "It's not that I'm not fond of it. It's just that, some parts of it are pretty much like a history lesson rather than religious belief. For one, and I know Ashley will call me out for blasphemy, the Son of God — Jesus Christ — sounds more of a normal prophet than the son of a god since all he does is tell people stories and parables." Keith sighed.

Ashley scoots over and slaps him for blasphemy, "Understandable..." the kitsune chuckled while Ashley nodded. "Have a nice day." Ashley chipperly smiled.

"And finally, one of the best and most known forms of afterlife, Valhalla. It's a paradise that some claim to be a majestic and large mead hall where all the dead warriors go to unwind and share their tales, after winged shieldmaidens named Valkyries fetch their spirits from the battlefield. They remain there until they are called upon again by the gods to fight in Ragnarök, the end of the world in Viking belief." Keith finished.

"Sounds like my kind of party! I want to go there!" Rory excitedly said. "Well... It's not really a Japanese tradition. It's all the way in the northwest of Japan in the countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark." Keith added.

"My, that's unfortunate. I wished to compare it to my chief god's domain." Rory smiled. "Perhaps one day." Keith smiled back.

The group eventually find themselves at the inn with the wagon being left behind there and Kai calling back his car to its hot wheels sized form. The group had to go past a market along the way and Arpeggio stopped to buy some minerals for her research. And since Ashley did just finish mining, she traded almost everything for some cash.

According to Arpeggio, because Hardy is the goddess of the underworld, everything underground is her domain, minerals and ores included. Keith grew worried at this and asked if Ashley experienced anything weird underground but she assured him that nothing of the sort happens.

She did add though that: "If you count those times underground winds would somehow always point me towards ores and gemstones, then yes, weird things have been happening but nothing that would harm me of the sort." That did not ease his worry.

The group then heads to the temple after Arpeggio, and surprisingly Shandy, did some shopping. Carlson would've had them waiting in line to not be rude if it weren't for Keith reminding them that they have an invitation. And surprisingly, they found Argus waiting for them just outside. The demon slayer waves them over and he jogs over to join them.

Once inside, Keith could already sense trouble brewing the moment Rory took a step in this place. A priestess of Hardy stops them in their tracks. "Rory Mercury, though you may be an Apostle, you may not enter the temple without our god's per–"

Keith immediately flashed the invitation in her face... by Keith, I meant Rory pulling Keith's arm and pushing him — arm first — towards the priestess.

As soon as the priestess saw the invitation, she and those who noticed it instantly bowed before him. He just blinked dumbfoundedly before looking at anyone for help, only for the other priestesses to immediately bow before him as well.

"You're all very helpful." he mumbled to himself. "Let's get this over with. Lead the way." Rory demanded, looking annoyed. "T-This way please." a priestess led them through a room that looked like the nave of a church where masses were held.

They then approached a staircase that led down to the depths of the temple... and Rory was refusing to go down. She hesitantly forced herself to go down step-by-step but she was getting nowhere. "Are you okay, Rory?" Argus asked, seeing how nervous she was.

"N-Normally it's an issue because infringing on another god's domain is really bad, but this is fine... Totally fine..." she ̶a̶s̶s̶u̶r̶e̶d̶ lied through her nervousness. Argus gave her a soft look, "We'll go first then."

Carlson led the way, Tuka and Toyokami held hands as they followed, Argus and Zane followed next with Yao and Lelei behind them. Then the Yuuki cousins. Rory smiled softly as they all went down before her so she headed down.

However, she stops and looks at the two people who haven't taken a single step down the stairs. Keith and Ashley. "Keith? Ashley? Are you two okay?" she asked as she stepped over towards them and examined their features. They clearly weren't logged out since their eyes weren't still and blank.

"Hey, are you two...?" she trailed off when she saw just how tight Keith's fist was clenched, sparks of wrath fire erupting from his shield's gem, and a low growl that accompanied his murderous scowl. She then looks at Ashley and sees that her breathing was ragged, hands clenched over the left side of her chest where her scar was, and eyes once filled with joy and wonder now full of trauma and fear.

She couldn't hold back the urge and hugged the two, not caring that she unceremoniously dropped her halberd behind the two in favor of pulling them in a hug.

Argus heard the clang of the halberd and looked at the stairs, wondering what was wrong, and why Keith and Ashley hadn't come down. "Watch–" Zane tried to warn but was too late. Argus, who wasn't paying attention to where he was going, bumped into another priestess that was carrying a basket, "–out..."

"S-Sorry, miss." Argus apologized and helped pick up the fruits that were dropped. "I-I should've watched where I was going..." he sheepishly excused while the maid nodded and bowed her head before taking her leave.

"Listen, Superman," Zane began, "If you're gonna use that 'super hearing' of yours, be sure you know where you're going." "S-Sure... I-I'll keep that in mind." Argus apologized.

While the group were heading down the stairs normally, the trio that were left behind were having difficulty. Ashley's breathing grew even more ragged — trauma growing worse and worse — the more they went down, Rory grew even more nervous and was holding onto the two for dear life — fearing that the dark abyss would take her and/or the two, and Keith's rage burned wilder and growls grew erratic and feral the more they went down the steps.

Ashley suddenly stopped and fell to a sit on the steps, tears falling down her cheeks now as she began panicking and holding her head, shaking fearfully as her trauma began to make itself known. Hallucinating her murderer around her, trying to pull her back into the basement she and her brother suffered as the lights of the torches began to dim to nothing. And because Ashley fell to a sit and hands were on her head, Rory lost her grip on her.

Rory gasps and tries to help up Ashley but the moment she lets go of Keith, her own phobia to the underground begins to kick in. It was even worse knowing that she was in Hardy's temple. She began hyperventilating and began feeling dizzy as she frantically tried to reach out to Keith or Ashley but the lights around them slowly began to dim as she herself began to lose her sight of the two. Rory just backed against the wall, grip on her halberd tightening as she began trying to crawl away in vain.

Meanwhile, Keith himself was lost in his own mental struggle as he kept going down and down the steps. As he neared the end, he saw a wooden door filled to the brim with locks. His erratic breathing grew as his fingers touched the cold and cool doorknob, twisting it and pulling it open slowly. What came out of that door scared the absolute shit out of him as it tackled him into the wall and he screamed in fright for the first time during his travels as a World Jumper.

Ashley screamed in pain and fear with each stab across her body, writhing in pain with each hit and slash. She began praying, hoping that this nightmare would end but she was unable to focus as her chest began to ache and burn in pain, prompting her to scream in absolute fright and agony amidst the mocking laughter.

Keith frantically tried to get his bearings through the thick fog around him despite feeling knives stabbing him all over, with each stab accompanied by a gasp of pain. He frantically tried to press the log out button but nothing was there. He reaches onto his back, trying to reach for his Blades of Chaos but its own chains suddenly wrapped around his neck like a noose as it began tightening itself, blocking the white haired boy's oxygen as he clawed the chains for air.

Rory whimpered in fear as she couldn't breath through the darkness. She frantically swung her halberd around, screaming in genuine fear and panic as tried to put on a brave face. However, her brave face was a joke, the fearful tears and panic-stricken eyes of her looked nothing like bravery. She looked around before she felt her knees buckle and she fell down, grasping her head as she sobbed in a fetal position.

Then there was light, Keith's Cardinal Shield glowed and shined through the fog and Keith gasped as he fought against the chains that were wrapping around him as he ran towards it. He struggled and struggled, chains upon chains wrapping around him trying to force him back into the dark basement as the visage of a woman crawling towards him like a horror movie monster like Sadako or Pennywise but he frantically ran and struggled against his binds.

Just as the woman reached Keith, her cold and dark talon-like hands grasping and scratching his back and sides — making Keith yell in pain — Keith yelled as he bore through it and finally reached the shield and its light.

Keith panickedly gasped, looking around and found himself at the staircase with Rory and Ashley whimpering and panicking near him. He looked at his shield, its green glow shining. He wipes his tears away, surprised that he was crying, before crawling over to the two and pulling them into a hug.

Just like that, the two also woke up from their darkness but their panicked breathing said a different story. The trio looked at each other with tearful expressions before hugging each other once more, this time with joyful sobs and soft assurances.

Down at the bottom, the group was looking in awe at the underground chamber. It was almost completely dark, save for the giant altar up ahead and the candles around. "Where's the other three?" Grey asked, noticing how Rory, Ashley, and Keith weren't with them yet.

The group grew concerned at that while the World Jumpers worried that they bailed on them, only to be proven wrong when sounds of clattering and thudding, along with pained yelps and screams, began to echo down the staircase until the three in question rolled and tumbled into view.

"Ow,ow,ow,ow,ow,ow..." Keith muttered in pain as he rubbed his shoulder. Rory groaned as she rubbed her butt, wincing. Ashley giggled and jumped to a stand, "That was fun, let's do it again." Ashley chipperly said.

"You ok, Jefe {Boss}? Ashley?" Argus asked, concern clear on his face for both him and Ashley. "We're fine," Keith said, groaning, "Had to carry Rory like some princess." "Hey! You shut up!" Rory exclaimed, pouting.

Keith was inwardly impressed at how fast anime character's eyes clear up as compared to real world humans. Normally eyes would be red and puffy after crying for some time, but not anime characters; their eyes are as clear as snow. With that, the evidence of the three being crying messes earlier was pretty much nonexistent.

"Visitors, Hardy will now descend here! Show her your respect!" a priest declared as the group stepped up towards the altar. "Wait, just like that? We're seeing a god just like–" a beam of light shining down in front of them shuts Zane up.

The World Jumpers looked around and saw how everyone, Rory included, kneeled in respect. Ashley immediately copied them and prayed a small prayer that was something about her not renouncing her faith despite an actual god descending upon them.

Carlson knelt down like he was some kind of knight, Kai sighed and bowed along with Argus. Keith, Zane, Owen, and Toyokami refused to do anything and either stood there with their hands in their pockets or crossed.

Keith could see her materializing from thin air, her appearance taking the form of that of a beautiful woman that would rival a goddess of beauty. Zane, Owen, and Toyokami immediately drool when they saw her, especially since she's wearing a semi-translucent white gown, the latter even wipes her nose in case of a nosebleed but remembered she wasn't an anime character. Only Keith noticed it, she was practically semi-translucent, given that he could still see through her like a ghost.

Hardy smirks at them as she reveled at the idea that this was the first time these eight had seen an actual goddess in front of them, even more so that she was the first goddess they have ever seen. However, her smirk drops suddenly and begins complaining to Rory... although no one could actually hear her.

"Are we supposed to hear something or...?" Argus asked, confused. "Only apostles can hear her, I guess..." Keith shrugged. "She says she's one hundred percent real and is not a 'walking plastic surgery.'" Rory repeated, a smirk on her own lips as Hardy looked like she was gonna cry from shame.

"W-Wha? Who– None of us said anything though." Argus remarked. "She can read our thoughts," Carlson said, "Because I was the one who thought that. I apologize if I offended you, milady." Hardy pouts at Carlson, who ignored her.

Keith grew cautious at that. If she could hear their thoughts even if they weren't physically there, then this only proves Keith's point that their avatars are indirectly connecting them to the world itself, much like how his shield appeared on his wrist the moment his Wrath Shield appeared on his avatar.

Hardy then perks up upon seeing Toyokami, Zane, and Owen. Narrows her eyes at Owen, mainly because his avatar was undead despite him wearing his helmet. However, she ignores him then looks at Zane. She couldn't help but be reminded of her apostle, who chose him and food over her mission... She wasn't pissed or anything but she couldn't really blame Giselle why. Zane was charming to a degree.

And then there was Toyokami, whom she smiled at and floated over, examining the girl with clear interest. Tuka's eye twitched when Hardy got a little too close for comfort at Toyokami, flicking her fingers at the German's chin, caressing her cheeks.

Hardy looks like she was saying something but snapped at Rory, who subtly smirked and refused to translate what she said. However, Keith could somehow understand her for whatever reason. "Rory, you ingrate! You better speak right now!" Hardy yelled but Rory continued to ignore her. He had a feeling his shield had something to do with this, especially since the Cardinal weapons were granted down by the spirits of the weapons themselves.

Hardy huffed and looked amongst her priestesses. "Dō natte iru nda? {What's going on?}" Kai asked. "They're offering her use of their bodies." "Itakosu mitai na? Reibai toka? {Like itakos? A medium or something?}" Kai asked.

"It's regarded as an honor for your chief god to descend into your body..." Rory explained, "It's just that if something as great as a god enters your body, your mind will be destroyed. However, priests and priestesses that can endure it can rise up the ranks."

"Can you become a god?" Ashley asked, curious if someone could become one. "That depends on the person, but it rarely happens." Rory answered. "Godhood doesn't sound that great anyways to be honest." Carlson said, not really seeing the point of becoming a god.

"Now that you mention it, nothing happens at all good or otherwise. Aside from meeting all eight of you, of course," Rory admitted, "But for those who live just for the faith, it's incredibly valua–" "You." Hardy gasped in joy as soon as she laid eyes on...

Rory and Keith gasped as they saw who she was eyeing. "HARDY STOP!" "DON'T YOU DARE!" Rory and Keith shout respectively as they run to try and stop her but it is too late to do so.

"You are worthy." the goddess said as she cupped the cheek of the one she chose before a flash of light blinds everyone and sends back the one whom she chose a few feet away. "Oh no..." Rory muttered, worried. "No way!" Toyokami and Zane gawked.

"SIS!" Keith shouted as he slid to a kneel beside her, checking if she was okay. Carlson and Argus immediately logged out to check if Ashley was okay in her room. Just as the two entered the room and Tuka demanded an answer, Ashley's avatar and body shone brightly.

Her avatar's appearance changed to one that fits exactly like Hardy and so did Ashley's actual appearance. Her white hair turned into silver, her skin smoothened, and her eyes became silvery moonlight blue.

"Greetings travelers of the stars. You have done well to have traveled so far. I am Hardy." She introduced herself, gone was Ashley's chipperness and now replaced by Hardy's calmness.

"What the fuck..." the World Jumpers muttered to themselves, Carlson not included of course.

< Small Timeskip >

Hardy more or less wanted to get out and head to a restaurant, all the while annoying Keith by getting close and handsy to an uncomfortable Rory, even more so with Ashley's avatar. Oh how Keith so badly wanted to punch her in the face, the only thing stopping him was that Hardy was using his sister's face.

"These avatars of yours, they're very boring." Hardy hummed, noticing that she couldn't taste anything. "Because it's only meant for practicality. It's an empty husk controlled from afar for the safety of those in control of it." Carlson said. While the Brit didn't really believe in gods, he wouldn't deny their existence in another world, especially since a demi-god like Rory exists.

"Like I said, they're very boring." Hardy repeated, frowning that she still can't taste anything nor feel satiated. "What happened to my sister?" Keith asked, more concerned for Ashley than her avatar or anything else for that matter.

Hardy answers after wiping her mouth, "She is unharmed, I assure you. Your friends said so, remember? She's simply unconscious in her... what do you children call it..." "VR Room." Zane answered. "Yes, that room. You see, I cannot control her body there as whatever dimension you're in is not only far but also prevents anything from going in... or out." Hardy finished.

And that triggered the warning bells in Keith's head. He once theorized that the reason the Legendary Shield didn't give him the restrictions the other stooges had was because he didn't believe in the same system. That much is true.

But there's also another theory, it's that the shield's capabilities were hindered immensely when it forced itself to bond with him through his avatar, much like how Hardy is doing with Ashley. His answer to that theory: the lounge would've been originally a solitary confinement chamber used by World Jumpers like Luminosity to trap demi-gods like Rory or gods like Hardy, or other kinds of people that have attunement to gods or nature itself.

Characters such as Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Kryptonians like Superman and Supergirl, magicians and sorcerers like Zatanna, Dr Fate, Dr Strange, and even Victor Von Doom, Saiyans like Goku or Vegeta, speedsters attuned to the Speed Force like Flash and Kid Flash, Force users like Darth Vader and Obi-Wan, even fourth wall breakers like Deadpool and Pinkie Pie for example — Toon Force characters included. If this was really originally a confinement chamber that disables their powers or locks them away from its connection, then those people would be vulnerable to death when they're normally so powerful.

If what Hardy was saying is true and she can't reach Ashley from whatever place they're in, then it's all the more reason to get out of there, not trust GM, and find Luminosity's teammate for the truth.

Keith was brought out of his thoughts when Hardy asked him a question. "Say, dragonslayer. I am rather curious, how good is your cooking that Giselle claims you're pretty much the god of it?" Hardy questioned.

Keith sighed, "I'm afraid you're not gonna be able to taste anything, madam." "My, my... Madam? Even Rory didn't call me 'Madam', right?" she teased the apostle, who grumbled. "But it is rather unfortunate that I can't lavish the meals you make for everyone everyday," the goddess sighed, "If you were a woman, I would've made you mine long ago."

Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, prompting Hardy's interest towards his shield. "Hm? Quite the powerful artifact you have there, Shield Hero." she said. Now that piqued Keith's interest. "Whatever do you mean?" Keith asked, feigning innocence.

"Your shield, it's an ancient spirit, is it not?" Hardy asked, smirking when Keith narrowed his eyes. "I felt its presence the moment you stepped foot at my temple, even now I still feel it. But there's an ominous darkness within it as well." She looked at him, their eyes meeting and just like that, Hardy knew she was right when Keith looked away with a "tsk".

Hardy lowered the fork and extended her hand out towards Keith, who looked at it curiously. "May I?" she requested. Keith narrowed his eyes but obliged, seeing as how it was simply to satiate her curiosity. Hardy held his hand and then brushed her other hand against the shield. "It's powerful," she commented, "Truly befitting its role as the shield. But it's hindered, its full strength unattainable because its connection to you is weak."

"I figured as much." Keith said nonchalantly. Hardy hums before plucking out a strand of hair from Ashley's avatar and dropping it on the shield's gem, surprising Keith.

[ Blessing Of The Underworld ] [Hardy]
[+ 50% to all defenses when underground]
[+ 25% effectiveness to all stone type shields]
[+ 25% mining yield]

[ Blessing Of Hardy ]
[+ 25% overall defenses]
[+ 50% overall defenses if with females]
[+ 75% overall defenses if in underground]
[+ 100% overall defenses if in {Underworld-class} locations]

[ Gemstone Series Shields Unlocked ]

[ Apostle Shield ] {Hardy}
- A shield granted by Hardy as a badge of office
- Reduce damage from undead enemies by 50%
- Reduce damage from spirit enemies by 50%
> Skill: Spirit Call
- Will raise the dead to your beck and call
> Passive Skill: Spiritual Authority

[Ability Upgraded]
> Alert Shield = Alert Shield {Soul}
- Can detect hostile souls of the living within a 40m radius
> Alert Shield = Alert Shield {Spirit}
- Can detect hostile spirits within a 40m radius

[Skill Upgrade]
> Soul Eater Shield {Soul Drain} = {Soul Consume}
- Consumes the soul of the target to fully heal your SP meter
> All Gemstone Shields
- Can restore gemstones to natural quality
- Increases gemstone quality to perfect unless intended otherwise
> Blacksmith Shield
- All accessory quality is perfect unless intended otherwise
> Pickaxe Shield
- 2x mineral yield
- 2x gemstone yield

[ New Ability Unlocked ]

> Soul Cry
- Terrifies all targets within 100m
> Crest of the Underworld {GATE}
- ???

Keith narrowed his eyes at the last one then at Hardy, who just smiled as she crossed her left arm under her chest, right elbow against her back of her left hand and resting her cheek on the right knuckles. Keith didn't trust her, not one bit, especially since he hasn't offered her anything but wanted to check it out anyway. He switches his shield to the new one he acquired, Hardy's Apostle Shield. While that technically makes him Hardy's apostle, he didn't really care since she forced it rather than him volunteering.

The shield didn't appear in the usual green glow, instead it appeared from golden flames that faded to black as it dimmed, giving sight to the new shield on his wrist. It was a black shield that was a mix of a victorian wedge and queen anne wedge shape. It had six spikes protruding out, two on the top, two poking down the middle, and two at the bottom. The appearance is clear as day, a hooded skull in the center with gold engravings all around with black rims around it.

What's scary is that it weighed almost like nothing, but when Keith shook it up and down to test its weight, it suddenly grew to the size of a door and the loud boom that shook the floor when it's bottom crashed into the floor. "HOLY SHIT!" the rest of the group, sans Carlson, shouted in surprise and shock at the suddenness of its growth.

"Why give me this so early on?" Keith asked as he switched the shield away, not understanding why Hardy would give him such a blessing so easily. "Because you're an entertaining one," she giggled, "This one as well. Especially since this one has no soul to begin with."

And that caught everyone by surprise, especially the other seven. "I-I beg your pardon?" Argus asked, nervously, "Y-You mean her avatar, right?" "No. I mean the girl herself," Hardy said seriously, "She has died once before hasn't she?" she asked the kitsune, who numbly nodded.

"That's why she's a worthy candidate, the perfect vessel even. Soulless yet so full of life." Hardy said, smiling so joyfully and hugging herself, "I found her ever so interesting the more she trekked the underground, how her eyes shined with excitement each time she found something new, the way she's so full of joy despite her death. Had she died in this world, I would cherish her forever and ever!" Hardy excitedly exclaimed, almost sounding more in love with Ashley than she is with Rory now.

That's when Keith realized and remembered what Ashley told him. The cavern winds always seem to point her to minerals nearby. How else would that happen if Hardy wasn't the one behind it, guiding his sister to those minerals.

"Great, so now will you leave me alone?" Rory asked. "Oh Rory, I still want you to be my wife, of course. This girl... she would be perfect as our daughter." Hardy smiled slyly, ticking off Rory and Keith. "OH GO TO HELL!" the two shouted. "Oh I will, but maybe later." Hardy smirked.

"Souls aren't toys, Hardy! Don't play with them like dolls! Ashley's especially! She's already been through so much!" Rory said, scowling at the goddess. "That's why I wish to take care of her like a mother would to a daughter. I would never hurt her like the previous one." Hardy said with a genuine smile. "I am the ruler of the underworld, after all, I guarantee the dead happiness."

"Ashley is not dead." Rory growled. "Whatever you say," Hardy shrugged. "So, what do you say? Will you be my wife and this girl's mother?" "I refuse," Rory immediately answered, "The entire reason I came along was to reject your offer properly."

Hardy then looks at Keith before asking Rory, "Does it have something to do with this young man here?" "That's none of your business!" Rory exclaimed, a hint of blush on her cheeks was present though. "Pity," was all Hardy hummed, "What about you then, elf girl? I'm sure you will do well."

"I will have to refuse, Lady Hardy. Besides, I already have someone." Tuka said, holding Toyokami's hand as the German girl smiled back. Hardy chuckled, "A human like her? You would out live her, little elf. You would have to move on or else you'll grow numb to emotions." Hardy said.

"A spirit such as yourself would understand. After thousands of years, elves' lives end when they grow tired of everything and choose to become a seed of a great tree, don't they?" Hardy said, knowing full well that if Tuka were to lose Toyokami, she would either need to move on or she'll join the girl in life after. The sad part is, they probably wouldn't be together depending on the situation.

The thought alone of losing Toyokami in the far future, when the girl was an old woman and barely able to stay in the land of the living while she herself was still youthful and in her prime... Tuka tightened her grip on Toyokami's hand, unaware that Toyokami herself just had a wake up call considering their age and youth difference.

The German girl's thoughts ran at blazing speeds as she thought of multiple scenarios of her leaving Tuka behind. While Tuka would cherish everything and take it slow and steady, she would be rushing all the excitement and quite possibly only able to enjoy them once while Tuka can repeat it all. Now, it was Toyokami's turn to tighten her grip as her breath shook, which Tuka noticed and began comforting her.

Upon seeing the two's reaction to that, Rory was immediately on her feet and beside Hardy, her halberd pointed at the goddess. "Enough with this! Return Ashley's body, now!" she demanded. "For an apostle, you surely lack some manners." Hardy said, unimpressed. "You dare lecture me about manners?! You're the one inhabiting an unwilling girl's body!" Rory argued.

"Oh you see, that's where you're wrong," Hardy said, "While the other vessels were weak, I had no other option as there were only three people capable of handling my presence within them. One is that blue haired girl over there," she gestures to Lelei, "She was my first choice but then I found this one, the perfect one."

"You said there was someone else. Who was the third?" Carlson asked as Kai and Owen got ready in case a fight broke out. Especially since Ashley's avatar could one punch every non World Jumper in the room.

Hardy smiled and eyed... Keith. Rory followed her eyesight and landed on Keith as well. "Keith?" she squeaked. "Are you surprised, Rory? He is worthy of housing a god, he's already done so with that shield of his." Hardy said.

Rory scoffed, "Both Ashley and Keith are mine, not yours or anyone else's." she declared. "That's cute. You're jealous, aren't you? As expected from the one aiming to be a goddess of love." Hardy teased, making Rory glare.

"Wait, Rory wants to be a love god?" Toyokami asked, surprised. Rory flushed with awkward embarrassment as she hasn't told anyone but Keith yet.

"Can we go back a few steps, you said I was worthy of being your vessel," Keith said, "Now I know you're not interested in men but I must ask, how am I worthy?" "I can't tell. You just have this... unnatural feeling. You appear human, everything about you is human, soul included, but... I just can't shake this feeling that you're more than that. Like a farmer hiding behind a suit of armor, or a noble hiding in the garbs of a peasant." Hardy explained.

Keith then thought about it. He didn't know his real parents, or where he came from. All he knew is that he was found in a box and brought to a foster home. Maybe that's why he was unnatural, his fighting spirit was unbelievably strong.

"You said that Ashley wasn't unwilling when you took over her body. What do you mean by that." Rory demanded. "I simply asked her if she was willing to let me talk to you using her body. She simply said yes." Hardy shrugged. "That sounds like her alright." Keith chuckled while Rory facepalmed at that.

"Kono kaiwa o tsudzuketai no wa yamayamadaga, naze wareware o koko ni yonda nda? {As much as I would love to continue this conversation, why did you call us here?}" Kai asked. "I'm with Kai. I know you rigged our dart game earlier and smited us when we tried to foolproof it." Zane snarked. Owen nodded in agreement.

"Very well then." Hardy obliged. "I am very much aware that you eight will not be staying in this world for long. Am I correct in this assumption?" The seven of eight World Jumpers didn't look amongst themselves nor did they give an answer, especially since everyone just looked at them in shock and looked for answers.

"I'll take your silence as yes," Hardy continued, "You see, the world is like a stream that begins flowing from the dawn of time. Countless streams flow across the chaotic plains of space-time... They meander through the mountains and valleys and get close to other streams when they get small. And if you apply a little power there... the two worlds come in contact, creating the 'Gate'. After some time, they split apart again and head towards their respective destinations." Hardy explained like a teacher would to students.

"The 'Gate' on Alnus was originally just a small hole connecting the two worlds, but the Empire's magicians came and created a magic device to keep the 'Gate' open." she continued on. "I think I understand... Sort of." Carlson said, following her explanation slowly while the others barely understood any of that. Keith understood it very clearly and followed along very easily.

"You could think of it as anchoring a ship to a stone wharf." Hardy remarked. "Heh, she barked." Zane snickered, making the immature members, Argus included, to chuckle. "It's wharf, you dumb fucks," Keith snarked, "Synonym to port." "Khehe, pork." Owen jokes to the five, making them giggle.

Hardy rolls her eyes, not amused the slightest by their immaturity. "Time keeps flowing however. While the ship is tied down so it can't move, it keeps trying regardless. It cannot resist the flow in the end, so what happens then? It groans... and it creaks... and it cracks. Cracks begin to appear on the wharf as well..." Hardy hummed, a bit amused at the implication.

"The earthquake," Carlson realized, making those from the Special Region look at him curiously, "It's the sign that this world is the ship, Japan is the wharf, and the Gate is the anchor," he figured it out, eyes widening in realization, "Are meaning to tell us that this world is going to crash and die because the Gate won't close?"

Now that shut the five jokesters up. This world was going to die all because the Gate won't close? That's when they realized... Why the fuck do they honestly care? Well, Argus didn't think that but the other four certainly did. They came here to grab some electronics and other shit to bring to the lounge and enjoy while they wait for certain events, so why would they care if this world is dying? Plus, they could just bring those they care about with them and leave this world behind to care for itself.

"I thought the earthquake was caused by the Cyber Virus?" Zane said. "That hideous creature?" Hardy scoffed, "It took the quake's destructive force for itself." "Huh... So that's why those quakes were happening, it absorbed a natural disaster..." Keith muttered to himself, now worried at just how dangerous those monsters really are.

"Hardy, what is your goal?" Rory finally asked, amidst the shocked looks amongst the natives. Hardy simply took a sip of wine but frowned when she remembered she can't taste it nor feel satiated.

"I wish for this world to become more splendid and more beautiful." Hardy smiled. "So you can tear it apart?" Rory deadpanned. "Perhaps." Hardy giggled.

"Guess even the gods sometimes want to see the world burn." Toyokami chortled, resulting in Tuka slapping her shoulder scoldingly. "Why open a 'Gate' to Japan then?" Carlson asked, not pleased with her answer, "Innocents died and all for what? To see this world prosper? How? By burning it down? What kind of sick joke is that?"

"The 'Gate' opening in that world is a mere coincidence." Hardy answered nonchalantly, ticking Carlson off but he didn't voice his discontent towards the goddess's reckless action. "And what did you think of the opposing force that came through?" Carlson grunted, as if challenging her.

Hardy humored him with an answer, "Powerful, that much I'll say. Even Giselle, or even Rory, could topple them. Especially with you on their side. Not even the Flame Dragon that I awoke to get rid of them in Alnus would be of any match."

At that revelation, the groups' eyes widened in shock, horror, and disbelief. Hardy woke up the Flame Dragon, the same dragon that burned down the ¼ of the Coda village refugees and all of Tuka's home tribe, just to get rid of the Japanese occupying the base.

"WHAT'S THE POINT OF THAT?!" Tuka yelled, outraged. "Exactly! If you could speak to them, why didn't you just do so?!" Yao agreed. The two knew that if the Flame Dragon didn't wake up, Tuka's village would still exist and Yao's people wouldn't have suffered against its Cyber Virus version.

Hardy simply stifled her laughter, ticking off not only the two elves but Toyokami and Carlson as well as the former's girlfriend was outraged while the latter is angry that she's so nonchalant about this. "Are you two really saying that? Have you forgotten what happened to you both in Alnus?" she challenged, remembering just how the two struggled during their first days on the hill, making them look down.

"Don't worry though, all of your friends, families, and lovers," she looks at Yao at the last one, "Merely transferred from this world to mine. And now they live there happily." Hardy smiled, almost as beamingly as Ashley would, which pissed off the two elves.

How dare she say that using Ashley's face, using that girl's cheerful smile as she casually talks about death, the smile that would usually bring joy to them whenever they feel down. How dare she! Yao immediately pulled out her saber while Tuka pulled the switchblade Toyokami gifted her for Christmas from her pocket and the two lunged towards Hardy.

However, before the two could stab her, two blocks of stone appeared in front of them, halting their tracks and stopping them. "I did nothing, mind you. The girl simply does not wish for you to get hurt. Her avatar is quite powerful, if you remember." Hardy reminded them as the blocks disappeared and Hardy was there, not even an inch of movement from her seat.

The two reluctantly sat back down, glaring at her. "You should know, I do not apologize for what I did. I feel no remorse for my premeditated action. The world runs the way it always has, survival of the fittest. What the Flame Dragon ate is something only it itself knows. It isn't as if I tossed you onto the plate for it." Hardy shrugged.

The World Jumpers inwardly reluctantly agreed. If Ashley were conscious, she would too. The world chewed them up and spit them out. Some of them, Keith and Ashley, received worse than others. Did the world care? Not even a little.

"She's right, you know." Keith said, surprising the two, "It's a wild animal. It knows what it ate was prey, that's all there is to it. Like a wolf hunting for a deer, it knows its prey and nothing more. The cycle of nature is predictable and harsh, it's always kill or be killed. And that's all the flame dragon understood. It cared not for the families it ate and burned, nor did it care for either of your loved ones. To it, those people are nothing but food. That's the harsh reality of the world."

"Damn Keith, a little harsh there bud." Zane commented. "Because it is." Keith huffed, not even caring that Tuka or Yao glared at him as he knew they also knew this was true.

"So what exactly do you need our help with? If it's destroying the Gate, I'm out." Keith got back on topic. "Actually, it's something concerning you eight." Hardy admitted, confusing them.

"Wǒ bù xìnrèn tā, xiōngdì {I don't trust her, bro}" Owen said, cautious. "Trust me or not, I wish to ask, how is it you are able to travel through different worlds without creating such big rifts?" Hardy questioned. "Because our way of traveling is completely dependent on our presence." Keith answered.

"Explain." Hardy said, interested. "People like us, World Jumpers, our predecessors at least, managed to harness the ability to travel through multiple worlds through different means. However, it all has the same rule," Keith explained, "Much like your explanation before but different. It's the World Jumpers that are the anchor."

"Intriguing, do tell me more." Hardy said, interest growing. "I don't have solid evidence but Zane and I have tested it. The moment our avatars left the world we came through prior to this one, time suddenly grinds to a halt. But even if one of us remains, time seems to resume normally without issue. My theory is that because our avatars are connected to us from a different dimension, the world responds in kind by keeping the time flowing at the same time."

"But that's just a theory," Argus began, "A Game Theory!" Zane and Toyokami joined in with him before they chuckled. "Are you idiots done?" Keith snarked. "Sorry." Argus bashfully apologized while Zane waved him off and Toyokami ignored him.

"Well, whatever the case may be, I need your help. Now of course I could convince you to eliminate the soldiers guarding Alnus, but this girl I'm inhabiting would be opposed to that. So instead, if you want that land in Alnus not to fall into a giant sinkhole, you need to use an alternate method to keep the 'Gate' active." Hardy said, "Because if you don't, an earth tremor won't be the last disaster that will occur."

"Rúguǒ wǒmen líkāi zěnme bàn? {What if we just leave?}" Owen asked with Kai nodding in agreement. As far as the two cousins knew, this wasn't their problem. "You do realize, I still have your friend here," Hardy points to herself, "Should you leave, this world will continue to revolve if your friend's theory is true."

Owen and Kai had to admit, they didn't have an argument for that. Even if they say they don't care about Ashley and could leave her, Keith is literally the only person capable of multiversal travel. And they knew for a fact, Keith isn't leaving without his sister.

"And if we can't find an alternative?" Keith asked. "Simple. This world will die. And knowing you all, you've all made certain attachments towards a few people that will refuse to leave with you if you do choose to leave," Hardy put it simply, "And we all know, if you do come back to a world similar to this, what's the guarantee the events will play out the same way to get where we are now?"

Argus inwardly agreed. As much as he wanted to leave and find his mom, how could he look her in the eye when he knew he let a world die? Simple, he couldn't. And honestly, while he has killed people during his previous months here, he had justifications to do so. Those were bad people willing to kill good people, and the only way they'll stop is if they were killed. The bandit army that attacked Italica was proof of that.

Owen inwardly felt the same. He wasn't a murderer. Thief, sure. Pickpocket, why not. But murderer, that's not what he is. It's the reason he refused to use most of the Scoundrel skills, which were pretty much composed of assassin skills like Backstab, Cut Tendon, and the like. Yes he did kill a lot of people in Italica but like Argus, it was all justifiable. No way was he facing his sister with a guilty conscience.

The rest felt the same way as the two did... All except two. Keith and Zane.

Zane, sure his dad was a bastard and cared little about him, his ex-girlfriend cheated on him, but he still had some people left. But he then thought to himself, would they even know? Can he even go back home knowing that the multiverse is real? Integrating back to society that had little to no adventure and be forced to work till he grows old and retires?

No, Zane knew that after this and a few more adventures, there was no way he'd fit back in the real world. That's like taking the red pill and going back to the Matrix while pretending everything is normal when it's clearly not. The real world was starting to become bland in comparison to their adventures across the multiverse.

Yes, he still had people waiting for him, caring for him... But in reality, he could get those same kinds of people elsewhere. What's one world's destruction when there's an infinite amount of them of the same make? A world like this is nothing more than just another gummy bear inside a pack of gummy bears.

And Keith thought the same thing. The only reason he's staying is because there's nothing left for him back home. He was already legal to live on his own and get a job, that's why he chose to stay. Ashley is the only reason why he hasn't broken into a mess. And if she chooses to go back, then sure, he'll accompany her back home and stay with her. But like she said before when they all first got together months ago; she was already dead. No one will be there waiting for her with open arms.

"Fine. I'll find an alternate way to use the Gate." Keith sighed, seeing as how he has no choice but to accept but also because he has an idea. While thinking about the main plot of God of War 4, which was to go to Jötunheim's highest peak and spread the ashes of Atreus's late mother, there were multiple ways to enter through the realm of the giants. One of these ways was through a portal, a gateway to be exact. If he could somehow replicate it, then yes he could somehow create a Gate that wouldn't cause the destruction of the world.

"Good, good," Hardy praised, seeing the look in Keith's eyes that he had a plan in mind. "And as for a reward..." Hardy chipperly said, lifting the brass cup, she suddenly threw it out the window with the force of a sniper and it flew into the building opposite.

And out came an assassin, the cup still sticking in his forehead before falling to his already ensured death. "Looks like an assassin." Grey observed. "No shit Sherlock." Zane snarked mutteringly. "How are they here already? We only arrived today!" Shandy exclaimed.

"Welp, they're here now chief." Toyokami remarked. "Yeah, time to head back to Rondel," Keith nodded, "Pack up everything and get ready to move out."

Everyone headed out to pack their stuff, leaving Hardy and Keith alone. "Do you regret it?" Hardy asked the kitsune. "Regret what?" Keith asked. "Not being able to save her." Hardy simply answered. "Yes." Keith plainly answered. "I don't mean–." "I know who you mean." Keith cut her off, "She thinks I don't know, but I do."

The two were in silence for a few minutes, "Do you regret it?" Hardy asked. "Everyday. Every waking moment, I'm constantly reminded of it." Keith answered her. "She's in good hands." Hardy smiled. "I know." Keith smiled as well.

"Are you going to give my sister back?" Keith asked. Hardy put a finger on her chin, thinking about it. "My God, it's a simple yes or no question." Keith grumbled, making Hardy giggle. "I don't know, this vessel is rather interesting and so... she's just so adorably perfect. She's like a saint! A princess even!" Hardy squealed happily, hugging herself.

"Please don't violate my sister's body like that." Keith growled. "Or what will you do? Charlemagne?" Hardy chipperly asked. "Stop poking around my sister's memories!" Keith demanded.

Hardy laughed and smiled, "I will part away with a gift. Cut my hair so you may use it as a catalyst for whatever you wish," Hardy said as she brushed her hair, "But the moment you use it for something, it won't be usable for anything else. Think carefully about it."

Keith narrowed his eyes at her, "Don't grow skepticism now, young fox. After all, I did give you gifts without the need to offer anything in return." Hardy smiled as Keith clicked his tongue.

"And my sister? What will you do with her?" Keith asked. "Nothing of course." Hardy 'innocently' smiled. "I somehow doubt that." Keith scoffed. "Believe what you want, little fox. I say the truth," Hardy said before she sat straight and her expression turned serious, "However, I'm not the only god who is interested in your sister. Several of us, in fact, are interested in her."

At that, Keith's eyes widened with surprise, "You mean..." "Yes. Two gods besides myself have already reached out to her and she was willing to be their apostle. As a matter of fact, all the gods have decided to give her the gift of being their second apostle regardless if she worships them or not."

"And you're telling me this, why?" Keith asked. "Because if you do plan on leaving, our blessings towards her and my blessing to you will be meaningless. Gods such as myself can only remain in our world unless a powerful force allows us to slip our authority through the world." Hardy said.

"And what's stopping you all from invading Japan the moment I create an alternate Gate," he asked. "I said our authority, not our presence itself. This world is our domain, meaning that our influence is much more powerful here than anywhere else. If you leave the domain of our influence, your blessings will be useless," she answered him, "And if we leave our domain of influence, we're as weak as a newborn. Gods need believers after all, and not every world believes in us."

Keith then remembered how Rory's reaction to the underground here was different as compared to the underground in Japan. She was a crying mess the moment they let go of each other underground while in Japan, she was just claustrophobic. He had to have guessed that Hardy was at fault for that just to mess around with Rory.

"So I'm guessing that's why you need the alternate Gate. It's not just to save this world but also so that you and the other gods can pass your authority to another world because of my sister's interesting trait?" Keith figured, getting a nod from Hardy. "Why am I not surprised?"

"You and I both know that the next world you're planning to go to next would have a goddess that would grant you her blessing. What good would her blessing be if you cannot access it in another world?" Hardy challenged, having seen a bit of Keith's thoughts back at the temple. And he knew she was right. What good would Hestia's blessings be if they wouldn't be able to access it elsewhere.

Keith sighed, "Fine, you have a point. Now who are these gods that have gained interest in my sister and want her to be their apostle?" "You know the gods of this world, yes?" she questioned, getting a hum of confirmation, "Then I assume you would know who Duncan and Wareharun are."

"The god of blacksmithing, and the goddess of trees and forest." Keith answered. "Correct. They have seen the kindness towards nature and beautiful architecture your sister has made, and they want her to one day be the goddess of innovation and architecture."

"And I'm guessing the twin gods of knowledge (La and Elange) also wish for her to be their apostle, yes?" Keith guessed. "As well as Miritta (Fertility), Flare (Sun), Zufmuut (Light & Order), Deldort (Covenant), and Lunaryur (Music). Emroy (Darkness, War, Death, Violence, & Insanity) and Palapon (Revenge) wish to give their blessings to her as well but she lacks the qualities of their area." Hardy admitted.

Keith could see why Ashley piqued the interests of the gods. She was a walking soulless corpse that somehow still lived and is full of wonder despite her death. How she could still move on after such a traumatic experience was probably the reason why the gods were entertained by her. That and also because Ashley's just a genuine sweetheart.

"And you seemed to have piqued our interest as well," Hardy admitted, causing Keith to raise a brow, "You just have this unnatural feeling around you that we just can't tell what it is." Keith casually shrugged. If he piqued the interests of the gods, good on him. Not that he really cares, honestly.

"So what happens after you leave? Another god attempts to turn Ashley into a vessel?" Keith snarked. "Who knows," Hardy shrugged, "Perhaps we'll discuss our interests in the girl and then grant her a blessing." she smiled.

< Timeskip >

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Argus asked Ashley, who nodded. "I promise, I'm fine. It's like... I just took a nap." Ashley assured them.

Giselle had apparently broken the radio Keith had given her after throwing it out the window of the treehouse. Giselle did not know that they had put her on radio silent so she didn't chatter around and thought that it was broken when no one was responding. Hardy had to be the one to call her to pick them up outside Belnargo.

Right now, the group had returned to Rondel just in time for Lelei's presentation and just in time to ditch a good majority of the assassins. While some were still in Rondel — which the group found out the moment they entered a tavern and a group of assassins immediately jumped them, most would've followed them to Bellnahgo.

Don't worry, those assassins were swiftly dealt with by Keith using the Nue Shield's Fear Roar and a combination of Arpeggio and Lelei's magic blasts. They won't be doing assassinations anytime soon, especially since Zane and Toyokami sliced/shotgunned their leg/s off.

"I guess those guys don't...*pretends to put on sunglasses*..have a leg to stand on." Argus joked. "Badum-tss." Zane pretended to play the drums to that tune. "Boooo!" the Yuuki cousins playfully jeered as they nudged Argus with smiles. "Haters. Both of you." Argus chuckled at them.

While those fools were fooling around, Keith looked at his Bag of Holding where he placed the hair he cut from Hardy. He could certainly use the hair as a catalyst for the new Gate. He then turns to Ashley, who was merrily walking beside him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Keith asked, to which Ashley nodded with her signature smile (😊). "Did you know that you were chosen to be an apostle by pretty much all the gods?" he asked. "Yup. I had this dream where I was mining and I found myself in like this underground temple but apparently I was actually summoned by the gods to talk!" Ashley chipperly explained as she began retelling the story.

Apparently, while she was still asleep and recovering after Hardy took over her body, she found herself to be in some kind of shrine inside a cavern. As she took a step forward, the gods appeared before her. Unlike how Hardy appeared before them as an actual humanoid, the gods appeared before her as balls of fire of different colors.

Emroy's was red, Hardy's was silver, La and Elange appeared as twin blue flames, Duncan was red-orange like hot metal, Miritta was pure white, Wareharun was green, Flare was bright golden orange, Palapon was gray and Deldort was pale, Zufmuut was golden white, and Lunaryur was yellow.

Each of them, except for Emroy and Palapon, began praising Ashley for her achievements while Hardy just cooed over her like a mother would. It was disturbing but she didn't really stop her from doing so. Emroy and Palapon, while they were impressed by Ashley's achievements, they were quite disappointed when she hadn't done anything within their area of worship yet. Ashley just apologized for not doing much but she just isn't the kind of person who kills people or gets revenge, unless you count pranks of course.

Nevertheless, all the gods came to the agreement that if Ashley does somehow do something worthy enough to gain Emroy and Palapon's favor, they will all agree to offer her apostleship. Well, since their apostles still exist, she'll only be gaining the powers/blessings and nothing else.

Keith didn't know why but this was some kind of blatant favoritism and some kind of anime moment where the character suddenly grows overpowered out of nowhere because of just being nice. But then again, it is well deserved as he could only imagine that Ashley's good naturedness and pure heartedness would rival Spider-Man's and Superman's.

Keith's alert shield pinged once more and without even looking, threw his shield in Boomerang Shield form and donked an assassin on the roof on the back of the head. He fell on a market stall either unconscious or paralyzed. Or dead... "Guess they're running out of time to get Lelei." he muttered to himself, seeing as how the assassins were practically just doing it out in the open.

"I thought you'd be heading back to Alnus by now." Yao points out, seeing as how Keith's still here. "Well, I might as well see this through. Seeing as how I'm pretty much the only guy who can sense the assassins coming before they even show themselves." Keith shrugged.

It wasn't only assassins they had to deal with during their return to Rondel. During their absence, a messenger arrived and delivered the official news about the Flame Dragon's defeat. Said news was the one written by none other than Shandy.

Tuka was instantly swarmed by fairies as the news said something about a blonde boy who was a fairy elf with lucious long blonde locks and his partner was a female human mage that had an iron staff. Thankfully it wasn't called an 'iron cock' anymore, or else that would've made for very bad language to the kids listening.

Yao was embarrassed that the news included all the mishaps she had during her desperate attempts to ask for help from both the 'Men in Green' and the eight dragonslayers. Lelei just wanted to hide as now everyone was swarming her like she was a hero, when in truth she barely did anything to help during the battle at Schwartz Woods in fear that the dragon would only absorb her attacks.

Although the group did have to send Shandy to the inn since Toyokami wanted to murder her earlier. Reason being? Apparently, Shandy is both forgetful and a bit of an airhead as she completely forgot that she wrote Tuka as a male in the report.

Also Yao was at the far back with Zane since Yao just casually blurted out that the conference would likely be an execution in the form of public humiliation. The result, Toyokami and Tuka wanted to murder her for quote on quote 'moral support'.

This day is just turning out better and better. Right? Yeah, they're now at the presentation and the dude that just finished just stepped off the stage covered in ink and other trash. Yeah, this day is going great...

(A/N: I've been writing this for two weeks now and I've been staying up late at night just to binge this. Ahahaha! I'm definitely not going insane by cramming all of the Rondel Arc into one chapter, no sir! AHAHAHA!............................................................. Someone please send help.)

"Is this okay?" Carlson asked, concerned for the poor scholar that just got literally trashed. "Different culture, Carlson. Different culture." Keith said, patting the Brit on the shoulder.

"Lelei will be fine right?" Ashley asked, worried for the blue haired mage. "She's got this." Argus said, confidently.

"Well, luckily it's still going to be a while till it's Lelei's turn." Keith remarked, seeing as there were still quite a few scholars who were going to present. However, quite a few of them were bored since there was little to nothing to do except keep an eye out for assassins and wait for Lelei's turn.

The keeping an eye out part was given to Grey, Carlson, and Keith however as they were the only three experienced enough to see any weird actions people had. They had a run in with a merchant who attempted to assassinate Lelei and was apparently hired by someone named... the Pied Piper, a master manipulator capable of turning people into assassins with just his twists of words.

Zane even remarked that if they ever heard a flute playing and they start doing weird dances while trying to kill Lelei, that's definitely the piper. He was clearly referencing Shrek 4 but no one else but Keith, Toyokami, and Owen knew about that.

Argus only watched up to Shrek 3 and was convinced it ended there. Yup, there is no Shrek 4, whatever that movie they're talking about is just a parody, definitely not an official movie made by Dreamworks. "A trilogy should end in a trilogy," he said. He even said John Wick ends in a trilogy, just like all great movie trilogies.

Before you start screaming there's John Wick 4, I'm aware that it exists. You have to remember that these eight kids come from March 1, 2020. As far as they know, John Wick 3, which is 2019, is the final one.

Arpeggio was also there to help encourage her... sort of. "So, you've made it." she remarked, looking at the new master robes that Lelei wore. "I had Keith wash them. Apparently, they have a device in their dimension that can clean clothes almost instantly." Lelei remarked, remembering how he offered to wash Lelei's clothes.

And he was nearly caught by GM and Raphtalia washing clothes that didn't belong to anyone as no sets of clothes have come from anywhere except those in the Shield Hero universe and those provided by GM. And Lelei's robes would stand out from the rest. He had to hang them to dry in the Gate world though as he knew sun dried clothes, aka nature's natural dryer, are better than machine dried clothes.

Just as Arpeggio was about to snark at her little sister, Mimoza chimes in, "She acts like that but she was bragging to everyone about how Lelei defeated the Flame Dragon." Lelei did not look amused while Arpeggio looked at Mimoza like she just spilled a secret.

"Sage Mimoza, I Told You Not To Talk About That!" Arpeggio screamed. "Oh dear, oh my, did you?" the sage asked, "Should I also not tell them about how you stayed up all night to hem up your own clothes in case Lelei couldn't prepare hers in time?" the sage blatantly added.

Everyone turned to look at Arpeggio, who then screamed, "SAGE!" "Oh dear, I accidentally let that slip... It seems age has made my lips loose." Mimoza lied. "Don't Try Playing Up Your Age And Acting Cute! You Clearly Planned This!" Arpeggio screamed. "I'm so sorry!" Mimoza lied once more.

"It's so fun to watch these two." Rory said fondly. "I DON'T CARE FOR YOUR APOLOGIES! I HAVE MY DIGNITY AS A BIG SISTER, BUT YOU JUST... ARGH!" furiously screamed the elder sister of Lelei at the top of her lungs.

"Are siblings usually like this?" Argus inquired curiously as he scratched the back of his head. "I dunno." Keith and Ashley immediately shrugged. While Kai and Owen smacked each other, the former on the head and the latter on the stomach.

Arpeggio kept screaming while Mimoza just smiled or laughed through it all. The scene garnered some attention, which would make it harder for assassins to get through.

"Miss Alfe, everyone's watching, so why not–" an elf like Tuka politely interjects. Only to fail when Arpeggio screams, "I DON'T CARE SHUT UP!" "Oh, okay..." the elf sweatdropped as Arpeggio growled at her like a tiger.

"Who the hell brought a tiger?" Zane jokes, making the group — sans Carlson — to giggle or chuckle at the joke. "Nah, a tiger just polymorphed into Arpeggio." Toyokami jokes. "Huòzhě shì lǎohǔ pīzhe tā de pí. {Or a tiger wearing her skin.}" Owen added, making the group — sans Carlson again — to playfully blanch in disgust.

Meanwhile, the natives of the group were much more curious about the elf. "Tuka, it's an elf." Yao points out. "Why is he in Rondel?" Tuka wondered. "Who is that?" Rory muttered to herself, curious. "Is she a friend of Miss Arpeggio's? Grey wondered. "She never mentioned him." Lelei bluntly said.

"It's nice to meet you all, I'm Flat El Coda, a sage doing some research here," he politely introduced himself and approached them, shaking Lelei's hand, "So you're Miss Lelei? I'm Flat." he reintroduced himself politely.

The World Jumpers — except Keith, Carlson, and Ashley — held back some snickers or chuckles at the introduction, mainly because he could also double on saying he's flat chested.

"I'm really glad I could meet you! I've heard a lot about you from Miss Alfe," he admitted, catching Arpeggio's attention, "It's amazing that you're aiming to become an archmage at your age. I was just fooling around in the forest at that age." he complimented, "And then there's the rumors of how you defeated the Flame Dragon! The entire town is talking about it! No, perhaps the entire continent is, which would make you a great hero!" he praised.

"Several parts of the story are pure fiction," Lelei spoke after a bit, "In reality, it's these eight dragonslayers who fought it without fear," she gestured to the eight in question, "As well as Crow, Nokk, Komu, Seymy, and Nayu, who all survived. Including Met, Ban, and Fen, who all fell in battle. Yao over there was also involved and Tuka dealt the finishing blow."

"Lelei..." Yao thought, happy that Lelei remembered the names of even those who fell. "I-I didn't do much, to be honest..." Tuka mumbled to herself, remembering that her lightning strike nearly caused them to lose.

"All I did was pick away at it with magic." Lelei said, remembering how hesitant she was at blasting the dragon at full force in fear it could only absorb her attacks and make it harder to kill so she instead focused on the smaller ones.

"All of you are just amazing!" complimented Flat, "I'm proud to be an elf like you Miss Tuka, Miss Yao, and Mister dragonslayer." he said, shaking their hands, "In comparison, I'm just a research sage." "A research sage?" Carlson inquired. "A sage that doesn't use magic." Lelei answered.

Flat chuckled at that, "It's not that I don't use it, but that I can't. Being an elf, I'm stuck with spirit magic, which isn't suited for experimentation," he admitted.

"So, what kind of research do you do exactly?" Carlson asked, a bit interested that there's a different branch of sages. "Astronomy." Flat answered, surprising Carlson. The Brit remembers Lelei telling him about the Spherical Earth Theory by some sage named Passol.

Simply put, the theory is that the world was round, not flat. Because it was round, many believed that everything would fall off the sides. The theory caused outrage from the people but the sages came up with a lie... The earth falls downwards into the sphere... Which is basically the truth but since Isaac Newton doesn't exist in this world, these fools don't know anything about gravity.

"Well, Lelei has already told me about Passol's Spherical Earth Theory. And the people's take about it..." he added the last part as an afterthought. "Ah, I see. Don't worry about it," assured the elf, "We're not being mobbed these days and we're coming up with new theories."

"Like Mokuri's 'Sun-Centered Theory!' I'm sure I'll convince everyone this time." Flat said with nervous excitement. "Isn't that just Heliocentrism?" Carlson quietly muttered to himself. If he had to guess, the theory was just pretty much the same but just under different names.

Heliocentrism was pretty much a theory that the world revolves around the sun, which is believed to be the center of the solar system. The Sun-Centered Theory was pretty much the same case. The Earth-Centered Theory, or Geocentrism as it's known on Earth, was pretty much the opposite where the world itself was the center of the solar system.

As Flat finished explaining the theory, with Arpeggio chiming in about how the moon still revolves around the world rather than the sun, Carlson was asked about what theory he believed in from where he came from. "Well, there's quite a few theories but I'm pretty certain most of them would result in me getting killed for blasphemy."

"Please, we're all scholars here. And theories aren't always the truth after all. That's why it's called a theory." Flat remarked. Keith had to slap Argus and Zane in the back of their shoulders and kicked Toyokami in the ankle to stop them from making a Game Theory joke.

"Very well, one theory is that humans came from a form of evolution by a scien–" Keith nudged Carlson, who corrected himself, "Ahem, sorry, by a sage named Charles Darwin. He believed that humans evolved from quadrupedal mammals, that had the ability to walk bipedally at times, of the same appearance but were more animalistic in features. Much like the Volralden species are an evolved version of the wolves."

"Fascinating and remarkable. But I'm certain that not everyone believes it?" Flat asked, knowing that there were other theories that clashed with that one, much like how the Sun-Centered and Earth-Centered theories did.

"Indeed. The more religious believers believe that humans were created by a godly entity, much like how the elves came to be. A man and a woman, a garden paradise, and a god that gave life to them," Carlson remarked, "That's the most well known, anyway."

Flat just felt like he met a fellow researcher as the two began conversing how most of their theories were the same and were just different in names and different people discovered it. What got Flat's attention the most was how theories would often clash against religious beliefs and how many religions there were on the other side of the Gate. The elf wished to go and study beyond the Gate just to see how many new things he could learn and research.

Carlson had to be reminded not to go overboard with telling Flat so much knowledge that would turn this fantasy world upside down as this world was not ready for it. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about that as Arpeggio called Flat over as it was now his turn to present. And he wasn't even presenting, he was just doing a report about how his research was furthering.

And that's when Mimoza decided to drop a bombshell. "Flat once proposed to Alfe." she oh so casually revealed, embarrassing Arpeggio while Flat chuckled awkwardly with a blush. Rory, Tuka, and Mimoza squealed with joy while Ashley and Toyokami cooed.

"I-I REFUSED HIM ALREADY! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I MARRY SOME STUPID ELF?! I DON'T EVEN SEE HIM AS A MAN!" Arpeggio shouted out of embarrassment as her face turned beet red, eyes turning into spirals, and mouth turning into an agape rectangle. It worsened when Mimoza continued.

"I find it hilarious that Mimoza is technically the youngest out of all three and she's the most talkative." Zane laughed to himself along with Kai and Owen, the two cousins were howling with laughter. Argus chuckled, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

It wasn't long till Lelei was up next to present the moment the scholar before her was done. However, just as Lelei was getting in line a scholar wearing the same outfit Lelei is but for male, Keith suddenly called forth his axe and pointed it at the man behind Lelei.

"Drop the dagger or I'll freeze you where you stand." he warned, Leviathan Axe coated in ice as its freezing air brushes the man's cheek. The man tried to play innocent, acting like Keith was accusing him of being something he's not.

*clink* The dagger fell off his coat as he shuffled around too much and it fell off his pocket. Grey was quick to apprehend him as he pleaded his case out in the open. "I-I've done nothing wrong! It's her fault for stealing my research! There's no way some brat like her could have research worthy of the arch-mage exam! It's obvious that she stole someone else's research!"

Keith summoned the Chimera Viper Shield and summoned one of the snake heads, scaring the scholar and he gave up resisting, he instead just repeated "This conference is corrupted" as Grey escorted him outside. Guess the Piper got to him too.

The stage was a mess, the person that came before Flat just ran out covered in ink. The one before him wasn't though so they would have guessed the person's research was crap. That and also because some of the sages were having their own way of fun by seeing who could hit the person presenting the most. Some even had modified ballistas that shoot inkwells. And golly there were a lot of mages here. The amphitheater was pretty much full of mages.

"Man, Lelei wasn't kidding that this is the city of magic. I mean look at all the wizards here." Zane remarked, seeing so many mages, wizards, and witches of different species and age ranges. "Agreed. Shame tho. I don't see Selena Gomez anywhere." Argus jokingly said, earning a high five from the redhead.

Owen really wished he had a staff but he didn't like using them because they're a hassle to use and carry. Keith remembered he still had Aultcray– Sorry, Trash Bin's former Vassal Staff weapon and called it forth to appear before him. He sighed as he still has yet to find a user for the staff, while he could purposefully keep it, it deserves a user worthy of the title Staff Hero.

He would've given it to Lelei but she already has her staff. He would give it to Melty or Mirellia but he fears that would only hinder their abilities should they choose to use a different weapon. Plus, Melty's still pretty young. And no way was he giving it to Owen. The moron would only use it for anything but being a hero. Also because he doubts Owen would remember any of the spells and giving him a permanent videogame HUD in his POV would only give Owen ideas.

He kept it away and focused on the stage where Lelei was walking up after her name was called. The moment she did however, a feline assassin jumped towards her with a knife drawn.

Just as Carlson pulled out his pistol, hundreds upon hundreds of spells, items, and weapons were launched towards the cat-person, launching them into the wall and past Lelei. She was unconscious and practically naked, given that most spells tore the back of her clothing — or lack thereof as she chose to only wear a cloth bra and loincloth, as she slid off the wall.

"Wow... Did she really think that was a good idea? I saw that shit going to shitsville from a mile away the moment she jumped Lelei." Zane snarked, criticizing the assassin for their shit attempt. "A real 'Leeroy Jenkins'" Toyokami snarked. "Who in their right mind would attempt to assassinate someone in front of hundreds of people ready to fight at a moment's notice?" Keith agreed with the two.

"This feels like the 'This is Brazil' scene from Fast And The Furious," Zane said, "You know what I mean." "Everyone suddenly pointing their guns at The Rock? Yeah, I remember." Keith snickered. "The Rock acts as himself in every movie. Change my mind." Argus chuckled

The group led Lelei backstage for a bit till the stage was cleaned up and just to calm everyone down before she actually presents. And surprise surprise, Shandy decided to show herself and warn everyone about an assassin she saw at the bar that was planning to attack Lelei as soon as she entered the stage. Unfortunately, the clumsy knight lost her in the crowd in the market.

"Wait, so she actually attacked?!" Shandy exclaimed. "Yup. Guess she forgot every wizard would be there." Zane shrugged. "I'm pretty certain there won't be any other assassins who'll attempt it again, if there are then they're either idiots or just that desperate."

"Lelei." Shandy called out. Lelei expected the Rose Knight to inquire if she was alright or not, what she didn't expect was for Shandy to suddenly lift a dagger and suddenly stab her in the chest.

"Case in point." Keith remarked, not even bothered by Shandy's attempt at Lelei's life. "Nah, dud. She stow-ped (stupid)." Owen spoke in broken English, also not bothered by Shandy's attempt.

The reason being? Shandy pulls the dagger back and reveals that the tip broke off. "HUH!? WHAT!? HOW?!" she exclaimed, not understanding how her stab didn't deal anything to Lelei.

"What do you mean, how?! Keith literally gave her a wyvern scaled leather chestplate 'in front of you!'" Toyokami exclaimed in disbelief. If Shandy was playing dumb right now as her alibi, then that just proves she's not just stupid but also an idiot.

The small "Eh?" she gave as a response just proved the German girl's thoughts. Shandy was immediately trapped in a Shield Prison till Lelei's presentation was finished for questioning before she could either try again or try to escape — not that she could try the last one anyway with Owen being able to just teleport her back, or Argus catching up to her with Trickster Style, or Kai just ninja running after her or Ashley building a prison around her

After some words of encouragement and support, Lelei took to the stage once more. "I, Lelei La Lalena, made use of principles known on the other side of the Gate to control a phenomenon that magicians thought uncontrollable and created a new magic: Detonation Magic," she began and threw a rubix cube in the air and created rings of light in front of her magic blast before launching it, causing the blast to increase in speed and power, exploding upon impact.

"By detonating rings of light in succession, you can fire a more destructive projectile. This can also be used to accelerate a floating item," Lelei continued, Arpeggio remembering Lelei using that during their sister duel, "This may end up reviving combat magic, which had been in decline, but that will result in far more disastrous battles."

"I wish for this to be used in developing other fields of magic, as magic is but a tool," Lelei finished before finalizing with a simple, "That is my presentation," after a pause. Since most of the sages and masters were thinking about her discovery and not throwing anything at her, it's clear that she wasn't getting splattered on anytime soon so she calmly made her exit before breathing a sigh of relief.

"That was brilliant, Lelei." Mimoza congratulated, rubbing the girl's head. "Just look at their reactions, that degree is as good as yours." Arpeggio remarked, smugly.

The group was in a waiting room interrogating Shandy while waiting for the results. "So then, Shandy. What's your excuse for attempting to kill Lelei right in front of us?" Keith asked, both calmly and as friendly as can be. Shandy just puffed her cheek in response and not looking at him.

Keith sighed, if being nice wasn't going to cut it, then maybe going '28 Stab Wounds Conner' would do the trick. Keith's Spartan Rage flared up almost instantly just as he stomped the ground in front of Shandy and slammed his hands on the table, the legs giving out from the force and breaking into splinters.

Shandy shrieked in fear while Keith yelped as he fell on the floor from the sudden breaking of the table as he put all his weight into that table slam. "I DID IT TO SAVE PRINCESS PIÑA!" shrieked the fearful girl.

Argus moaned in pain at the volume. Damn honed hearing was a blessing and a curse. "Please stop yelling." He begged, rubbing his ears. His plea was not acknowledged.

"I MET THIS GUY NAMED PIED PIPER AND HE SAID THAT THE FIGHTING HAS STARTED AT THE JADE PALACEBECAUSETHEKNIGHTSREBELLEDANDBECAUSEOFTHAT,THEPRINCESS'SSITUATIONINTHEPALACEISUNCERTAIN! *breathe* PRINCEDIABOEVENRANAWAYBECAUSEOFTHECOUP'D'ETAT.PRINCESSPIÑAWASONLYSAFEBECAUSESHE'SPRINCEZORZAL'SSISTER! *breathe* PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! WAAAHHHH!!!" the girl cried out louder in fear at the top of her lungs that her entire head was basically Kirby inhaling everything but in reverse.

Most of the people either fainted from the loud volume while the World Jumpers winced and groaned as they covered their ears. "This bitch can scream..." Toyokami winced, feeling like she was hit with her own concussion grenade as her ears rang. Kai and Owen immediately logged out the moment she started shrieking and hurriedly took off their headsets.

Ashley and Argus winced and whimpered as their ears rang painfully, while the former didn't have honed hearing like the latter it was still pretty painful since she was sitting just a few feet away from Shandy. The downside of the latter's honed hearing is that even if he isn't focusing on it, his hearing is still rather sensitive to loud noises.

Zane fumbled a little as he was disoriented from the loud shrieking. He just slowly sat down on the ground before laying down and quietly groaned before raising and lowering his jaw to ease the pain on his ears, also pinching his nose before forcing to breathe through it (Valsalva maneuver).

Carlson flinched at the volume and turned away slightly but didn't give much of a reaction. Keith barely reacted as he's basically dealt with loud noises before, i.e. Filo cries out bloody murder because she was banned from using the fridge after being caught taking a ton of food from it. Seriously, that child could scream out your eardrums.

Unsurprisingly, the anime characters didn't even flinch at the volume and just looked like they understood every single thing she said. How? Simple. Anime logic.

"Por el amor de Dios, haz que se detenga! {For the love of god, please make her stop!}" Argus winced. "She already did, genius!" Toyokami shouted back so he could hear. "Then why is everything still ringing?!" Argus groaned, massaging his ears while Ashley patted the latino's back as a sign of comfort.

"What would you have accomplished if you had killed Lelei?" Yao asked. "If I were to bring Prince Zorzal Lelei's head then it would prove Princess Piña's loyalty." Shandy explained. "Uh-huh... Sure..." Keith was not convinced.

"So that's how you were fooled." Rory remarked. "NO! I WASN'T FOOLED!" Shandy denied loudly, "I asked the merchants who came from Italica and the capital and they confirmed it too!" "If that's true, we can't underestimate the Piper's information gathering." Grey said.

"That treacherous bastard!" Tuka shouts angrily before Keith gives her a scolding glare, making her pout. "If Lelei was hurt, it wouldn't have ended well." Arpeggio growled.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY!" Shandy shouted, "KNIGHT GREY, I HEREBY ORDER YOU TO STRIKE DOWN LELEI!" Shandy desperately ordered.

Grey blinks, "You say that..." he glances at the people in the room, as well as the sages who just came in to tell the results, "But what do you expect me to do here?" he questioned the girl as everyone glared at Shandy, as if challenging her to say something. She settled by gritting her teeth and looking down with tears nearly forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Just give up and ask them to save Princess Piña." Grey suggested. "What could they do against the palace's defenses?!" Shandy exclaimed.

"Bitch who do you think we are?" Zane snarked, gesturing to the rest of the World Jumpers, "We have a god of war, an assassin with a very sharp sword, a girl that can build structures from thin air and break them just as fast, two people with quote on quote 'iron staffs', a powerful wizard, a demon slayer, and a mercenary which is me."

"Zane, I think you mean 'the fucking god of war'." Argus corrected. "Ah, yes, that." Zane nodded with Keith sighing as he shook his head fondly at their ridiculousness.

The sages then announce their presence and explain the results of Lelei's presentation. "HUH?! ON HOLD?! BUT WHY!?" Arpeggio asked in disbelief.

"Well... The presentation was nice, but... you all know the recent turmoil? A sage is meant to guide others and students guided by that presentation might get dragged into all that." Mimoza explained. "Húchě! {Bullshit!}" Owen snarked.

"So should the situation change first?" Keith asked. "More or less." Mimoza confirmed with a disappointed sigh. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Arpeggio demanded, "It's not like Lelei is responsible for all that!" Lelei just had a frown and look of disappointment on her face. Ashley went over to cheer her up by complimenting her work, which Lelei appreciated.

Keith's shield's gem then glowed and blinked like a beeping signal. He summoned the radio and mini satellite he and Argus made that increases the frequency range. He checks the map and then a compass before pointing the satellite there through the window and uses the walkie-talkie radio, "Comm check, over?"

"Boss, this is Steel," a woman's voice speaks through, "I've been trying to reach you since last night. The capital is in chaos. Zorzal just announced the hunt for the pro-peace senators and all those who resist will be tagged as KOS (kill on sight). Over."

"Roger that, Steel. How's the garrison, over?" Keith asked. "Safe and secure. They're planning on moving some of the senators out but they can't really take any offensive measures until the Japanese government says so. We're on our own here. Over." Steel reported.

"Damn... How's Chérie-one? Over." Keith asked, surprising the group as the words 'Chérie' didn't translate for them, meaning it was a name. However, Kai didn't need any translator to know that the word sounds awfully like Sherry.

"Target is secure along with Target Rook. They're in Chérie-base. Over." Steel reported. "Good, keep me posted. What about Rose-1, over?" Keith asked. "Rose-1 is in Capital Castle. We can't really get to her without sneaking in. Over." Steel reported. "Copy that, Steel. Over and out." Keith reported before keeping the radio and satellite before everyone gave him weird looks. "What?"

"Working with the SDF now?" Zane snarked. "Aren't we?" Keith snarked back. "Come on, I'll teleport us back to Italica, we'll regroup there and prepare to launch an attack at the capital." the kitsune said.

"You can teleport?" Toyokami asked, incredulously. "Uh, yeah. Only to places I've been to anyway." Keith answered. "Guess this is it, huh? We're leaving Rondel?" Carlson asked, getting a nod of confirmation from Keith as the group got ready.

"You're coming with?" Arpeggio asked Lelei after seeing her stand up. "Yes. Don't worry, I'll be fine. My friends will be with me." Lelei said, finally with a smile. The group was quick to compliment her and praise her for finally opening up from her stoic shell.

Arpeggio walks over to Lelei, "Get things over with quickly and come back. You've still got a degree waiting for you," she then suddenly hugs the smaller girl, "You're my precious little sister, so don't overdo it." Arpeggio reminded as the background suddenly turned into a sparkly background, which once more surprised the group at the sudden anime logic.

(A/N: said background)

"Is that what having a sibling is like?" Argus wondered as he eyed them, then Keith and Ashley, then the Yuukis. Being an only child was nice but it did get lonely. "Lonely kids stick together." Zane said, pulling Argus and Carlson to a one armed hug each side.

Neither Argus nor Carlson resisted but did feel a little uncomfortable as they weren't really that close with each other yet. Despite the group working together and staying under the same roof and on the same team for almost half a year, all of them didn't see each other as friends just yet.

Keith and Ashley were siblings with Zane being Keith's friend. Carlson treats everyone as teammates or squadmates like the military does. The Yuuki cousins weren't really close to anyone, or even each other for that fact. After all, they haven't seen each other for a while. Toyokami just saw everyone as just fellow gamers that she would game with but never as friends. Argus and Ashley were the only ones who saw everyone as friends but never really got along with them as none of them trust each other fully nor the situation they're in.

"I know," Lelei blushed slightly at the affection. "You know, you can always just come with us. There was always a saying that 'Experience is the best teacher.'" Zane shrugged as Keith, Carlson, and Toyokami slowly turned to him, knowing full well why he wanted her to join them. And no it's not because he wants to help her mineral research, it's because she's a potential waifu.

Arpeggio thought about it before Mimoza urged her on. "You should go. If anything these kids could even help you further your research more than you could do by staying here." Mimoza said. Arpeggio thought about it before realizing that Ashley could really help with that. With a decision made, Arpeggio joins the crew after packing up her stuff after Keith assured that he'll pay for the majority of her needs.

After some goodbyes and farewells, Keith raises his shield up to his chest. "Alright, here we go." Keith said as his shield glowed and golden particles began to surround the area, much like how the Cardinal Heroes and their parties were affected back in the Shield Hero world. "It's going to be a little disorienting so, try to get your footing the moment we get there." Keith warned. And with a flash of gold...

Keith was gone. Only Keith. "Uh... Brother?" Ashley called out, worried that he just disappeared without them. Those who closed their eyes and expected to appear in Italica, opened them and saw that they're still in Rondel. "WHAT THE FUCK, KEITH?!" Toyokami, Zane, and Argus shouted in disbelief.

< Italica >

Wolf and his team were just heading back to Alnus after escorting a caravan and getting paid by the merchant when suddenly, Keith's avatar formed from golden dust and particles that conjoined together to form him. Keith blinked before lifting his head from the shield and looked around before spotting Wolf and his crew and no one else.

"H-Hey, Keith." Wolf said, awkwardly waving at him. "FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!" shouted the Australian.

Chapter End

(A/N: Finally, after two weeks and more, I have finally done and completed this. Man there was so much content on the manga but was cut in the anime that I just couldn't help but add them on.

Now, obviously. I haven't read much of the Light Novel as it was just too much to read because some translations were just god awful in presentation: such as words being conjoined (likethisforexample), or some letters are just missing (lke thi), or some chapters are missing or not translated. However, I do always check the wiki for fact checking and fear that's what took this so long to make.

I do hope you enjoy this because it took so much that I had to cram it all together into one chapter so I don't have to split it. 27.7k words... My god, I need some sleep and some mental help, hahaha 😂)