When Isagi woke up, he couldn't understand why a beautiful maiden had appeared right before his eyes.
She had soft, flowing blonde hair, neat bangs, and... fox ears?
"Huh?"
The maiden's face was unbelievably pale. She wore a red kimono embroidered with an array of blossoms, looking entirely like the style of the Far East.
"?"
What was going on?
For a moment, he really thought he might be dreaming.
But even so, dreaming up a strange, beautiful maiden was just a bit too weird.
As his thoughts gradually returned to him, Isagi confirmed that he wasn't dreaming. This was reality.
It was incredibly real. They were lying in a temporary room laid with "tatami" mats on the floor, also in the Far Eastern style—because the wooden cabin on this deserted island had only just been built. Naturally, there wasn't much furniture. The beds used for sleeping were a continuous row of tatami mats, resembling a large shared sleeping platform.
It was just like a "school trip."
This was a classic trope, an absolute must-experience element!
Yet as a result—
Was suddenly "spawning" a beautiful maiden inside one's blanket in the dead of night during a school trip also a must-experience element?!
Honestly speaking, if Isagi had seen the two Goddesses or Ryuu-senpai right now, he wouldn't have felt it was strange at all.
What was strange was that he absolutely did not know the person in front of him!
What in the world was going on?!
The faint, incredibly pleasant scent of iris flowers radiating from the maiden was very strong. It mingled with the sea breeze drifting in through the window and its distinct, slightly salty aroma reminiscent of table salt.
The somewhat indistinct voices of the Goddesses were also carried into the room from time to time by the night wind, along with the clamoring sounds of the girls.
Isagi recalled that he had gone back to the room to sleep right after night fell. So right now, it probably wasn't even the dead of night yet. Perhaps around eleven or twelve o'clock?
The Goddesses were still drinking, and Ryuu-senpai and the others should have finished their practice by now, likely resting on the beach outside.
Gradually, he recovered a sense of reality.
Isagi fell silent, once again placing his gaze on the maiden before him.
[She is truly beautiful.]
The quiet, seemingly peaceful sleeping posture gave her an incredibly soft and pitiful aura, inevitably evoking a certain feeling of "sadness."
At the same time.
Isagi also felt a certain kind of exhaustion. It wasn't that his body had been hollowed out—that would be a massive misunderstanding! Rather, it was...
[The Divine Power is gone.]
The golden motes of light that always lingered around his fingertips in the past had vanished. What was going on? Had he used it up? What was it used for? Could it be that the maiden before him was—
Isagi twitched his mouth, completely unable to understand.
He thought to himself that he hadn't dreamt of beautiful maidens falling from the sky. How could he possibly have used his Divine Power to make something like that come true?!
And accompanied by the voices of the Goddesses and the girls outside, which were suddenly drawing closer and closer, Isagi could no longer hold it together.
No way!
Even though he could explain it, letting things continue like this would be way too strange!
Therefore, the most urgent priority was to distance himself from this fox-girl before doing anything else. Yet, exactly at this moment, another accident occurred!!
This girl actually woke up!
"Umu—"
She let out an incredibly soft and adorable sound.
Sanjouno Haruhime groggily opened her eyes. Those resplendent, emerald-like pupils looked boundlessly enchanting.
Subsequently, she saw a sight that made her unable to look away—
The boy's incredibly handsome face, and just below that, the extremely well-proportioned, healthy, and powerful muscles exposed through his thin, pure-white tank top.
[Gulp.]
She swallowed her saliva almost instinctively.
Then, in the next second, something happened that Isagi once again could not comprehend.
Watching the girl open her eyes, he initially thought she would scream out loud, so he was already thinking of how to explain things. As a result, her small face suddenly and rapidly heated up, turning a terrifying shade of cherry pink. Immediately after...
She spurted blood! She straight-up got a nosebleed, hey!!
Isagi was completely dumbfounded. It wasn't until the blood spraying from the girl's nose stained his own body that he finally snapped back to his senses.
Then, he realized that the other party had already fainted once more, though her face was currently filled with an expression of pure bliss.
"..."
What the hell?
What in the world was this girl here to do?
Just when Isagi was also entirely bewildered, the Goddesses and the girls, who quickly returned to the wooden cabin preparing to sleep, also witnessed a scene that they could not comprehend.
That was...
Not only had a strange, beautiful maiden appeared in Isagi's bed, but the sheets and blankets were even stained with dark red blood.
"..."
Silence spread.
For some reason, it seemed as if everything was already understood without words.
Fortunately, a sudden message arrived from the Guild's side, drawing everyone's attention.
Because the Astrea Familia at this time was already an indispensable force within the city, coupled with the fact that everyone was very familiar with Fels. This messenger of the Great God Ouranos had handed an "Oculus" to the Goddess of Justice to facilitate contact at any time.
Right now, it came in perfectly handy.
"[Something has happened!]"
Fels's somewhat anxious voice transmitted from the Oculus. It was obvious that a truly severe situation had occurred in the city at this moment.
It was an event that exceeded even the expectations of the Gods.
Because, some kind of "Divine Power" had descended upon the city. Then, it entirely engulfed the Pleasure Quarter, completely severing its connection with the rest of the city...
Under the veil of night.
Fels, together with Goddess Loki who had rushed over, arrived atop Babel. They rendezvoused with Goddess Freya, who resided there, and gazed off into the distance at the side of the city that seemed entirely covered by a gigantic, pitch-black sphere.
"The entire Pleasure Quarter, including the Ishtar Familia's headquarters located in the Slums, taking up roughly one-tenth of the city, has been entirely encompassed inside... Is that really Divine Power?"
"Yeah."
Answering Fels's question, Loki and Freya were incomparably certain.
This included the other Gods who had gradually gathered here at Babel to watch the commotion; all of them felt the same way.
Without a doubt, the substance constituting that "Black Veil" was Divine Power.
However, it was very unfamiliar. It was not a power the Goddesses were acquainted with. Although they could faintly sense some of the distinct traits it possessed, it should be—
"A nightmare," Goddess Freya said.
Within that black veil, there was the aura of the "Moon" and "Nightmares."
[Night], [Stars], [Light], [Darkness],[Nightmares]... These concepts inherently possessed considerable connections.
Therefore, it was perfectly normal for a certain moon deity to govern the domain of dreams as well. The problem was that the one who brought down such a "Miracle" was not any God within the city, nor could it be an outsider.
All the Gods who descended to the Lower World knew the rules established by Ouranos.
This was not merely a verbal agreement.
Instead, once violated, by utilizing Divine Power, the power of that "Agreement" would automatically send you back to Heaven. Thus, it was impossible for any God to break Ouranos's agreement and cause such an incident.
Unless...
[It is not a God from this world.]
"?"
Why did such a strange thought suddenly emerge?
Even Loki and Freya felt that for them to think this way was truly baffling. But... But surely...
Just as Fels and the red-haired Goddess both cast curious glances toward the direction of the Pleasure Quarter, the Goddess of Beauty standing beside them felt somewhat anxious.
Because just moments ago.
She had sent the Gulliver Brothers from her Familia to resolve the "trouble" of the Ishtar Familia.
That was right.
Naturally, Freya knew that Ishtar, a fellow Goddess of Beauty, was immensely jealous of her. But in the past, she hadn't cared at all, and couldn't even be bothered to pay attention to the other party.
However, ever since the Artificial Labyrinth Operation concluded, numerous pieces of intelligence had begun pooling together. This allowed Freya to learn that the other party had been secretly funding the Dark Familia. This, in itself, wasn't a huge deal. Within the city, there were plenty of merchant guilds, mercenary bands, or various gray-area Familias that had once funded or collaborated with the Dark Familia.
The Guild also turned a blind eye to it, because as long as the Dark Familia was dealt with, these individuals walking in the gray zones for profit would naturally settle down.
That was until recently.
There was concrete news that Ishtar had actually invited adventurers from the Martial Nation outside the city, and it was said there were two Lv.6s among them.
Was she truly planning to make a move?
She was insane.
Freya only felt disgusted. In particular, Demeter and Astrea, acting as the managers of the "Goddess Alliance" nowadays, still frequently came to find her to discuss this matter, which made her feel even more irritated.
Therefore, she thought about simply going and resolving it directly.
Always being incredibly uncompromising, the Goddess of Beauty—who, among the Gods of Asgard, also governed "War"—couldn't be bothered with convoluted schemes.
Send out the children of her Familia, teach the other party a lesson, and destroy them.
Originally, after tonight, Freya was going to strike the Ishtar Familia's name from the city. This was not a difficult task for her. Furthermore, having the Gulliver Brothers go was also to temper them along the way.
Being Pallum quadruplets.
They were all Lv.5 adventurers. If they fought together, they had the power to combat even a Lv.6 opponent.
The original Ishtar Familia was nothing to fear. The only ones who counted as opponents were merely the helpers they had invited from the Martial Nation, so she could also use this opportunity to train her own children. Otherwise, Freya could have directly sent Ottar over to casually raze Ishtar's [Pleasure Palace of the Goddess] to the ground.
But she absolutely never expected this.
She had just sent the children of her Familia over, only for such an accident to occur.
Now.
As a God, Freya could directly perceive that the distant Pleasure Quarter was entirely shrouded within a "Nightmare."
So, what kind of nightmare was it?
Even a Goddess could not understand it.
Yet regarding this, under the same night sky, Isagi—who was far away on a deserted overseas island—had something to say.
Because...
The boy, who had completely awakened from his slumber, was shocked to discover that he could seemingly perform some meaningful level of "operation" over the current Pleasure Quarter.
That massive area entirely covered by the [Nightmare], at this very moment, appeared to have wholly and completely become a "My World" within his own hands.
____
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