"Reincarnators?"
Ethan's first reaction was that they were reincarnators like Ryu.
This was not strange. Since Ryu could reincarnate into this world, it was not impossible for a second one to appear.
But in the next second, he dismissed his own guess.
The situation was different.
Because he immediately sensed that this time it was not just one person, but six.
Moreover, faint space-time fluctuations lingered around them. As a mage, or rather, a god with considerable achievements in space-time, he immediately determined the source of these fluctuations. They were residual energy ripples produced when breaking through the space-time barrier.
Ethan floated high above Fuyuki, staring into the distance. No one could sense his presence. With his current realm and strength, if he did not wish to be discovered, no one could find him.
Even Madeline, who suddenly rushed over, was only able to locate him because he deliberately released a faint aura.
Looking at Ethan, who had returned to his adult form, Madeline felt an even deeper and more powerful presence radiating from him.
"Congratulations."
Ethan glanced at her. He knew she was congratulating him on completing his transformation and truly stepping into the realm of gods.
However, Madeline was now even less capable of seeing through Ethan's true nature. She could not realize that he was a completely different type of god from her.
"What is going on with those people?"
"Just some Reincarnators."
Madeline stood beside him. Ethan noticed that her appearance seemed slightly different.
Compared to the elegant noblewoman image he had seen before, Madeline now looked somewhat younger.
He knew that at her level, appearance could be altered at will, so he did not pay much attention to it.
His gaze did not escape Madeline's perception. She casually brushed her hair, gathering her lightly curled blonde hair to one side and letting it fall naturally over her shoulder.
"How is it? Does this suit your taste better?"
"Heh."
To be honest, Madeline's mature charm, perfect looks, and figure were indeed to Ethan's liking. Unfortunately, he would never be attracted to her, because Ethan was extremely, extremely petty.
"What exactly is going on with these Reincarnators?"
Ethan lifted his chin slightly, looking down from the sky. He was very concerned about why Reincarnators had appeared in his territory. He wanted to know whether this was a common occurrence, and if so, how it should be handled.
He felt that Madeline must have anticipated this situation long ago. Was handing this world over to him part of her plan?
"Conflicts sometimes break out between Main Gods."
Madeline did not linger on the previous topic and answered directly.
"However, Main Gods rarely intervene personally. Usually, their Reincarnators fight on their behalf, and the outcome determines the winner."
Main Gods were essentially immortal and indestructible. They could not truly kill each other, making direct conflict meaningless. Therefore, when disputes arose, Reincarnators became the means for Main Gods to decide superiority.
Besides this, there was another reason Reincarnators might appear in worlds not belonging to their own Main God.
"All Main Gods want to control more worlds, so each of them cultivates special Reincarnators known as Explorers."
Explorers?
Ethan restrained the urge to argue internally and continued listening.
These Explorers searched for new worlds for their Main God and exchanged them for rewards. Depending on a Main God's preferences and how their Main God Space was structured, the way exploration missions were assigned varied greatly.
Some Main Gods trained elite Reincarnators and assigned them specifically to such tasks.
Others opened exploration missions to all Reincarnators, letting them choose whether to participate.
There were also Main Gods with more extreme preferences, who randomly assigned exploration type missions. As for whether the Reincarnators wanted to accept them, or what they thought about it, that was irrelevant to the Main God.
"Which category do you think those people fall into?"
"We can rule out elite explorers."
The strength of the group below was fairly average. In Madeline's view, they were far from being top-tier Reincarnators, so they clearly were not specially selected elites.
As they spoke, the group of six had already begun to act.
To Ethan's surprise, they did not linger. Instead, they took out another strange device and attempted to reincarnate again.
"Where are they going?"
By carefully observing the space-time fluctuations from the device, Ethan determined that it was not meant to take them to another universe. Instead, it was intended to send them to a parallel timeline within this same universe.
Ethan watched closely. Just as their transfer was about to complete, he lightly snapped his fingers.
The owner was present, and yet a group of invaders still wanted to act freely. Ethan was not that patient.
He was also unlike other Main Gods who avoided interfering with matters involving Reincarnators. He was not part of the Main God system to begin with.
To him, these people were simply intruders.
Madeline glanced at him, offering no comment, quietly watching with interest.
The six people below looked around in confusion. After the device in their hands activated and shut down, they found themselves still in the same place.
One of them even thought the transfer had succeeded, believing they had arrived at the parallel timeline. After all, their destination was Fuyuki.
Only then did Ethan realize their target was Fuyuki in a parallel timeline, at a slightly earlier point in time, specifically during the Fourth Holy Grail War.
"What is there to gain?"
The Fourth Holy Grail War essentially offered nothing. If they were aiming for the Holy Grail, neither the fourth nor the fifth war was suitable, since the Grail had already been corrupted.
Moreover, the Holy Grail in this world was not an omnipotent wish-granting device. It only provided magical energy, and it was limited to this world's magical system.
To these outsiders, it seemed useless.
Unable to make sense of it, Ethan knew Madeline must have inside information. However, he did not plan to keep asking her. It would be simpler to question the people directly.
Straightforward and efficient.
Just as he was about to descend, he noticed a golden-haired man leisurely walking in that direction. Seeing this figure, Ethan immediately stopped.
He had a feeling something interesting was about to happen.
Things unfolded just as he expected. Gilgamesh, often nicknamed Golden Sparkle, quickly came into conflict with the outsiders, and fighting broke out almost instantly.
To be honest, with Gilgamesh's attitude of seeing himself as supreme and treating everyone else as trash, anyone would want to beat him. The problem was that most people could not.
This time, he ran into a group of Reincarnators who feared neither heaven nor earth. These people had traveled through countless worlds and encountered numerous powerhouses. Many had hovered on the brink of death countless times. Naturally, they were not afraid of Gilgamesh. A clash was inevitable once they met.
Gilgamesh's strength needed no explanation. Even standing still and casually throwing Noble Phantasms from the Gate of Babylon was more than ordinary people could endure.
A massive number of Noble Phantasms were unleashed, producing terrifying destructive force. If the fight continued in the city, Fuyuki could be wiped out.
So, at the instant before the battle fully erupted, Ethan threw both sides into the Mirror Dimension.
A Mirror Dimension nearly identical to Fuyuki, except without any people.
With Ethan's strength, neither side noticed the transfer. Perhaps after fighting for a while, their experience would make them realize something was wrong, but for now, they remained unaware.
"You looked like you were about to intervene just now?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you stop?" Madeline glanced at Gilgamesh below. Even as a clone, this local powerhouse was undeniably strong. "Are you that confident in him?"
"No."
Ethan looked at Gilgamesh, hands in his pockets, face full of disdain. Even lifting his chin counted as a major movement. His arrogance was on full display.
"From my perspective, if they kill each other, it saves me a lot of trouble."
Ethan had promised Illya that he would teach Gilgamesh a lesson. If Illya were not currently studying at Hogwarts and too busy to return, Gilgamesh would have been sent back to the Throne of Heroes long ago.
Looking at the opponents, the group truly lived up to their status as Reincarnators. Their abilities were diverse, and Ethan quickly recognized the powers used by several of them.
A young man with short hair excelled in close combat. Flames burned fiercely around his fists, mixed with a special energy. The moves and techniques he used increasingly resembled a character from a fighting game Ethan used to enjoy.
Another middle-aged man kept his distance. Lightning and frost flickered in his hands, and the surging magical energy around his body marked him clearly as a mage.
At that moment, a young man who had hidden since the beginning of the fight suddenly burst out from the shadows. His blood-red eyes and crackling lightning were clearly from an anime Ethan recognized.
"As expected of Reincarnators..."
(To be continued.)