— — — — — —
Having a professional coach really is different—the efficiency is insane.
Although, honestly… Kira didn't even need to think twice to know that whatever came next was going to be rough. Probably miserable, actually. But that was fine. You get used to pain if you stick with it long enough.
And in this world where strength ruled all, power was everything. Now that Eirin herself had decided to train him—personally, with a customized and detailed learning plan—he'd be an idiot not to give it his all.
But he didn't need to thank Eirin — she had her own plans, just like Kaguya.
There was only one person he truly owed his thanks and even his life to: his aunt.
The woman who raised him, protected him, and did everything she could for him — in her own way.
Her training methods might've been… unconventional, but they'd honed his willpower to steel over the past fifteen years.
"Thinking about it…"
Kira squinted slightly. "After all that with Auntie, my mental fortitude should be solid. But if I step into Eirin's program… yeah, I have a feeling it's not gonna cut it."
He didn't even need to see the training plan. Just one look at Eirin's calm, patient face was enough to imagine it—something like "please let me die already."
"Hehehe~~~"
Kaguya covered her mouth, trying and failing to hold back her laughter.
She'd seen Eirin's training plans before. But judging by what Eirin had said earlier, her dear father's plan was on an entirely different level—absurdly so.
Saeko, Rika, Shizuka … their training plans were probably Grade A at best.
Kira's? SSS-tier.
Actually, no—his would be something beyond that. A straight-up Dark Souls level.
"Alright, that's enough about training for now," Kira said, rubbing at his temple before looking back at Eirin seriously. "Eirin, what exactly is going on with the Apocalypse world?"
Forget being a city lord—just the fact that it was a modern world made it a valuable resource.
Seriously, he'd finally stumbled onto a functioning modern civilization, with all its tech and comforts, and now he couldn't even go there? He needed answers.
"In the age of myths, the world wasn't like this," Eirin said at last—not answering him directly, but starting from somewhere else.
Kira and Kaguya exchanged a glance and stayed silent, listening closely.
"In those days," Eirin continued, "there were many pantheons. Takamagahara's gods weren't even among the strongest. During that era, I traveled through numerous mythologies."
"But now?"
"Aside from the Takamagahara pantheon, all the others have vanished completely."
"Hm?" Kira narrowed his eyes, thinking. "So you're saying the situation in the Apocalypse world is related to that?"
"Maybe. Maybe not," Eirin replied calmly. "Even I can't say for sure. I can't cross worlds."
Her tone was vague, but both Kira and Kaguya understood the implication.
Tsukuyomi, the Moon Goddess of the Lunar Capital, had used a very specific kind of power to survive the Age of Gods. But did anyone really think the other Gods from other pantheons never considered doing the same?
So why did it only work here? There were too many questions buried in that line of thought.
"The other pantheons… split themselves away from the world?" Kira guessed, his mind working fast.
"Exactly."
Eirin nodded, her voice steady. "I've investigated it before. Almost every pantheon besides Takamagahara has separated from the world."
"Not entirely, of course. Some remnants remain—but they're no longer meaningful."
"These separations were a way to prevent collapse when the Divine Era came to an end."
"It was something the world itself caused, and not even the gods could stop it."
Kira crossed his legs and leaned back, arms folded. "So, to survive the fall of the Divine Era, they each used different methods—like cutting themselves off from the world entirely? If the end was inevitable, escaping it seems like the most straightforward solution."
"Indeed." Eirin nodded again.
"So…" Kira mused, "the changes I saw in the Apocalypse world are because of one of those detached pantheons?"
"I can't say," Eirin replied evenly. "Whether those separated pantheons can continue to exist at all—I don't know. Nor do I know if similar pantheons might have formed outside the world afterward."
"Even if they did survive, whether the Apocalypse world's situation was caused by one of the split pantheons… I still can't say."
Eirin wasn't one for wild theories. She was a scientist at heart—facts first, proof later.
If she didn't know, she wouldn't speculate.
"Then maybe you should go and see for yourself?" Kira suggested after a moment's thought. "That might be the only way to find out."
Eirin shook her head immediately. "No. My identity is… complicated. I traveled through many pantheons during the mythic age. If I were to step into one now, it would cause problems."
"…Wait a second." Kira gave her a suspicious look. "Eirin, don't tell me—you went around stealing things from all those pantheons back then, didn't you?"
And that wasn't just wild guessing on his part.
Because honestly, all those weird old texts Eirin had sent him over time? Even a halfwit could tell they didn't belong to Takamagahara.
There was no way she'd just found them all lying around.
He really wouldn't be surprised if she'd robbed half the gods blind in her younger days.
.
.
.