Nick never figured out Ethan's exact identity in the end, but he didn't dare dwell on it too much. After answering all the questions Ethan wanted to ask, he was "released."
"You may leave now."
Nick and Zoe exchanged glances. Zoe immediately took out a scroll, tore it open, and the shredded scroll released a ball of energy that enveloped them both, taking them away from this world.
As the two Reincarnators vanished with the light, even the corpses of their teammates were taken back. Madeline, who had been hiding in the shadows, revealed herself.
"What are you planning to do?"
Ethan glanced at Madeline, not answering directly, only casually saying, "I'll handle it later," and said no more.
Madeline knew Ethan suspected she might have played some behind-the-scenes role in this matter, so she immediately explained, "This has nothing to do with me."
"I see."
Madeline didn't continue explaining. Perhaps she felt she was telling the truth, and whether Ethan believed it or not was his business.
As for Ethan, saying he understood didn't mean he believed her outright. It only meant he acknowledged her stance. Whether it truly had nothing to do with her, he would investigate himself.
Just as Nick and Zoe were leaving, Ethan had already locked onto the coordinates of that world. Even if he hadn't obtained the location of the Main God's space from those two, he still had a Town Portal Scroll in his hand. As long as he held this item, he could find the other party's location at any time.
Madeline looked at Ethan, suddenly scrutinizing him with an incredulous gaze. "Are you actually planning to go there yourself?"
"Huh?"
It wasn't that Ethan thought his intention was hard to guess. He was simply curious why Madeline reacted this way.
"Then how do you think it should be handled?"
"Haven't you started building your own Main God's space and training your own Reincarnators?"
Ethan understood. Madeline meant that according to the rules of the game between Main Gods, when such conflicts occurred, even if retaliation was necessary, it should be carried out by Reincarnators.
Main Gods should avoid direct contact, not only because neither side could kill the other but also to preserve some room for negotiation and flexibility.
Everyone was immortal and indestructible. They would meet again eventually. Even if their relationship was hostile, it was better not to completely fall out. Otherwise, they'd be perpetually annoyed with each other. What was the point?
Unfortunately, those rules didn't apply to Ethan. He wasn't a Main God, so why should he follow their rules?
"I've already started training Reincarnators."
Ethan didn't say whether he had created a Main God's space, only that he had begun training Reincarnators. Madeline, out of habit, assumed he had already built one and simply didn't want to share too much with her, which was why he didn't confirm it.
"Then you can send your Reincarnators over to carry out a similar mission."
In Madeline's view, this was how Main Gods normally interacted. This kind of "retaliation" wouldn't trigger a larger conflict. Unless the opposing Main God invaded and provoked again after being retaliated against, the fight would usually remain limited to a confrontation between two teams of Reincarnators and shouldn't escalate into a direct clash between Main Gods.
"I will consider your suggestion."
Madeline said no more. She could tell Ethan didn't plan to accept her suggestion, but what could she do? Ethan wasn't her subordinate god, nor was he one of her Reincarnators. He had no reason to act according to her ideas.
Ethan turned his head and nodded at Emiya. Since the crisis had been resolved, Emiya had to return to the Counter Force. After completing his mission, he would return to Fuyuki for rest and recovery. Originally, it didn't need to be this troublesome, but the Counter Force in this world was a rigid, program-like existence that made no exceptions.
So Emiya had to go through a bit more hassle. But compared to the days of being alone in that place with nothing, repeating missions endlessly, what was this small inconvenience?
After Emiya left, Madeline also departed. Although she was very curious about what Ethan would do next, and even more curious about what would happen if two Main Gods actually clashed, she knew there was no point in staying here now. It was better to observe quietly from a distance and get close again when things got exciting.
As a Main God, interesting things had become fewer and fewer in her long life. Now that she had finally encountered something interesting, Madeline didn't want to miss it.
Ethan could guess her thoughts, but he didn't mind being observed by Madeline. Perhaps he could even use this opportunity to warn those Main Gods, who had nothing better to do all day, not to get any ideas about his territory.
As for how to do it specifically, he still needed to think it over.
The simplest and most direct method, of course, was to charge over, grab the other party by the neck, and deliver a warning. This method was very efficient, but he wasn't sure if doing that would result in him being grabbed by the neck and beaten up instead.
He needed to first assess the other party's strength. Did that mean he needed to play a stealth mission?
"Tsk, that doesn't suit my style."
Because of this incident, he was too lazy to go see Ryu as he originally intended. Instead, he casually issued a new mission to Ryu through the special system he had set up for him, instructing him to begin preparations for the next task.
As for the world he was going to, Ethan had already considered it.
Ryu had originally studied swordsmanship under Sasaki Kojiro, laying a solid foundation in swordsmanship.
After going to the YuYu Hakusho world, he also mastered spirit energy. At the same time, he never stopped training and studying swordsmanship. His fighting style remained centered on swordsmanship and martial arts, with magic as a supplement.
This training direction was very well-suited to the next world, which had swords with various abilities and used spirit energy as the main power system.
After notifying Ryu of the next world and confirming his departure time was one week later, Ethan didn't pay further attention to him and returned directly to the Venus.
He thought for a moment, then called over a few people who had some free time, like Selene and O'Connell, who weren't particularly busy. Tony, who had been occupied for a while and had finally finalized the design for his Stark-class ship and only needed to wait now, also joined.
After Ethan described what had happened, everyone present was stunned for several seconds.
"You mean, a Main God invaded your territory, and now you're planning to retaliate?"
"Yes."
No one thought there was anything wrong with Ethan's decision. What they cared about was the strength of the other side.
"Need help?"
"Not sure yet."
"Just say the word if you need help."
"I won't be polite."
Ethan wasn't sure if he needed assistance yet. But thanks to his wide network of friends, he had quite a few people he could call upon.
Some friends might not be strong enough to help much, but there were also plenty with significant power, like Thor, Loki, Diana, and Logan.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen you go all out in a long time."
"I won't disappoint you."
Tony stood up, patted Ethan on the shoulder, and then strolled out of the conference room.
"You guys continue chatting. I'm going to take a look around."
When he said he was going to look around, he really meant it, and not just aboard the Venus. He might even take a stroll through some random world.
In any case, this place was no different from home to him, and he used the equipment freely.
"It looks like it'll be hard for us to help."
Tony went off to explore. The ones left behind were the core crew members. Unlike Tony, who hadn't formally joined yet, everyone else present was officially part of the ship.
This incident involving Ethan meant they should be the most reliable combat force. But due to strength limitations, only Logan could barely participate in divine-level battles.
"We really have gotten a bit lax over the years."
Selene gently clenched her fist. Life here with Ethan had been stable and comfortable. Without realizing it, she had lost the fighting spirit she once had.
Not to mention her time as a Death Dealer vampire, she had spent hundreds of years in constant battle and training. Even the slightest slackening meant death.
When she first boarded the ship, she trained diligently due to uncertainty about the future. But as she became more integrated into the group, her drive to improve faded. Her strength was still growing, but nowhere near the rate it had before.
This wasn't something that could be excused by saying, "the stronger you are, the slower the progress." The ceiling of strength on this ship was right in front of her. She hadn't even reached the floor of Ethan's realm. Claiming it was hard to improve was simply ridiculous.
Ethan had created so many potions and provided countless paths to strength. As long as they trained with determination, there was almost no such thing as a bottleneck.
So the drop in progress was entirely their own fault.
Jonathan and O'Connell also realized this. Jonathan was never obsessed with getting stronger, so it didn't bother him much. O'Connell, however, knew he had grown complacent. If this continued, he would always remain a fringe member of the team.
That wasn't the goal he had set for himself in the beginning.
"We need to step up our efforts from now on."
Ethan noticed the shift in everyone's mindset. He hadn't expected this news to reignite their fighting spirit. It was an unexpected benefit.
If this incident could lead to a significant leap in their strength, then he would be more confident when dealing with that Main God.
He even considered finding a world where they could all train in seclusion for a few hundred years, collectively ascend to the divine realm, and then go trouble that Main God. That way, he'd be absolutely sure he wouldn't get killed.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)