I let out a quiet sigh as I watched the meteor being halted by Jonas’s druid army. With this, there wouldn’t be any damage to the world, as the remaining chunks were now under his control. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed one of the larger chunks near the back vanishing, the scene obscured by the other fragments. At the same time, Ryone was happily humming to herself in her seat.

Seeing that, I simply rolled my eyes with a playful smile. The situation had been resolved without me needing to do anything, which opened my eyes to the real power of a second ranked world. As I was thinking that, a message appeared in front of me, notifying me that my next opponent in the Keeper Games had been decided.

Unfortunately, it looked like I was on the defense this time. And, given my newfound awareness of the power that would be standard to this rank… New plan, expansion.

I had just witnessed three mortal gods effortlessly taking out a meteor the size of a moon… if ten such gods were sent through, it’s possible that they could simply destroy my worlds. As such, I became distinctly aware of the meaning behind Sarah’s words when she told me that quantity eventually meant more than quality.

Even if a world were to be destroyed, it was possible to salvage the situation so long as there were more worlds within the Keeper’s territory. It might not be a good situation, but it was a way to salvage it.

Tsubaki looked at the scattered rocks floating before her, and then down at her own hands. Part of her was having a hard time accepting the fact that this was truly the power wielded by someone like herself, as it was a scale far beyond anything she had done before. At the same time, she was distinctly aware of the fact that the enemies that her Keeper would be facing would be other Keepers, likely of the same power.

One ascended alone is enough to unleash such power, when bolstered by the faith of the masses. She thought inwardly, her mind racing as she worked on a plan to ensure the safety of her Keeper’s realm.

Tsuba? Everything alright? Dana called out mentally, their link stretched thin due to the vast distance between them.

I’m fine. Could you please visit the library, and pray for the fourth level of magic? I don’t think that information has been given to us yet, and we will need it soon.

Hearing her request left Dana puzzled, nevertheless she agreed. Sure thing, sis.

Even now, Tsubaki could feel the faith pouring into her body, perhaps even stronger than before. Her divinity was being rapidly strengthened. Previously, she had received the hope of the masses, their prayers to protect them. Now, she was receiving their thanks, feeling their celebrations in her name.

I suppose this is a type of quest, as well. After reaching that conclusion, she shook her head, directing her gaze towards Tower. This was her first time meeting the dungeon god, but she had been able to work out his domain after witnessing the effect in person. Or at least, narrowed it down significantly.

She knew that his domain did not allow the ‘summoning’ of powerful monsters, but rather their ‘creation’. It was possible that this was limited only to dragons, but Tsubaki felt that this was unlikely. Still, the fact that Tower was capable of creating a dragon of that level of strength was enough to reinforce her plan. They needed countermeasures against ascended enemies.

“They really did it…” The news anchor spoke up in shock, before collecting himself. “Everyone, thanks to the combined efforts of these three ascended, it appears as if the crisis has been averted. There is still the low chance that debris will enter the atmosphere and cause some damage, but it should no longer be on the previously predicted scale. We’ll be monitoring the debris of the battle to keep you updated in real time on our website.”

“That’s good.” Another voice spoke up, watching the screen from within a dark void. He sat alone at a desk, closing a thick tome. “It would have been unfortunate if the world had been destroyed.”

Blank’s personality had begun to evolve after watching the various streamers that Vivi had recommended, along with personally crafting his own world. Although it was nowhere near complete yet, he had a grasp on the arcane laws he wished to implement. Now, he simply needed to compile the data on the other energy types to complete his work.

It was unlikely that he would be able to offer perfect recreations, no matter how detailed his research. The chances of people being able to discover new energy fusions within his world that worked on the outside was slim at best. But, it was something he wished to attempt.

While he worked, Vivi continued to watch over him silently. She still had to keep track of her own world as well, but that was an easy matter at the moment. Player activity had declined sharply with the event happening in the real world, so there was less for her to manage.

She thought of simply giving Blank the information on the energy types from her world, but had ultimately decided against doing so. While minute, there were numerous differences that she had already noted between her own energies and those of the ‘real’ world. It was better to let Blank create his own systems for now, and only offer help after he had obtained this experience for himself.

“Oh Goddess of Magic, Ryone, and Goddess of Education, Udona.” Dana spoke aloud as she entered the library, standing before the aisles of books. “This servant prays for knowledge unknown. Uhm… in other words, can we have the fourth level of magic, please? It’d really help us, thanks!”

She tried, she really did try to keep things formal and ritual-esque when she made the prayer. But after spending so much time in the Citadel, and having interacted with the gods themselves on more than one occasion, she found it hard to keep up those formalities.

You sure you want this? Ryone’s voice echoed in Dana’s mind. The fourth level is not something easily wielded, even by those as talented as yourself and Tsubaki.

“Tsuba asked for it, so I’m sure she can take it, Aunt Ryone!” Dana smiled brightly as she spoke towards the empty library. What answered her was a quiet sigh which seemed to turn into a soft breeze.

Alright, we’ll send them down.

Looks like you don’t need to head to Earth, after all. Maria’s voice spoke up in Thelsa’s mind as she stood before a large, black gate. In one hand was a crystal she had been using to keep track of the news being sent out about the situation on Earth.

In the event that the ascended trio had been unable to destroy the meteor, she had planned to use her new ability to create a shadow of Earth and pull its inhabitants inside. Doing such a thing would likely destroy her current shadow world, but she expected that she’d at least be able to save some people. How many, she couldn’t say. She had yet to forcefully bring anyone into her shadow world before, after all.

Seeing that she was no longer needed for that task, Thelsa simply offered a small nod. “Let’s head to the next layer, then.” As she said that, she stepped through the black gate. Thelsa’s current power had offered her a… unique ability to explore the various layers of Fyor.

So long as there were no immediate dangers around the gate itself, Thelsa had no need to fear. After obtaining her new ability, she had gone through each of the explored layers to acquire their shadows, before returning to the twenty-fourth floor and acquiring it as well. As of that moment, she had a complete shadow that had mirrored all of the known territory within Fyor.

However… her shadow was still listed as incomplete. Part of her wondered just what it would take to finish this new ability. Did she have to acquire every unexplored layer of Fyor, as well? Nobody knew how many floors were left. So instead, she made up her mind to at least acquire the twenty-fifth floor.

One pleasant surprise that Thelsa had discovered was the fact that she was able to locate the orbs within her shadow world, and that they corresponded to their actual locations. Thanks to that, she had acquired the level orbs of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth floors and taken them to the spire on the first floor. As she could transport herself through the shadows of her own world, there was no need to deal with the formalities normally involved in the matter.

Now, as she stepped through the gate to the twenty-fifth floor, which erupted from the top of a crystal mountain, she found herself curious as to what would come next. What she found… surprised her, even beyond her own broad expectations.

Is that… Sora spoke up hesitantly within the shadow, causing Thelsa to nod. She the immediately retreated into a nearby shadow to avoid others taking note of her.

That’s right, the area surrounding the twenty-fifth floor’s gate was populated. Far more so than any known layer had been. Towering structures rose up that connected the ground and the ‘sky’, made of metal and stone with dark glass windows. Human creatures with pale blue skin stood barely a meter tall, walking around with heavy loads over their shoulders.

These creatures wore clothing like one would find in a modern store, and some even drove machinery such as cars or trucks. It seemed as though the gate was positioned at the center of this race’s city. With any luck, her appearance had gone unnoticed due to the gate remaining inactive for so many years.

This isn’t what I was expecting… but it’s kinda cool! Petra spoke up, looking around. Go ahead and grab this floor’s shadow, Thelsa!

Petra’s words broke Thelsa out of her daze, reminding her that they had come here with a mission in mind. Focusing, she connected her own shadow with the shadow of this layer, once again activating her Shadow of a World power.

There was no major change to her ability after gaining the twenty-fifth floor, but she was now able to properly tell just how large this one was. While the diameter of the first floor was a mere two kilometers, and the nineteenth floor’s diameter was almost as large as Desbar, the twenty-fifth floor was actually somewhat larger than that of Earth or Deckan.

With that thought in mind, her eyes turned towards one of those ‘skyscrapers’ which connected to the ceiling of this layer. Its size was… ridiculous, to say the least. Large enough to pierce over halfway through Desbar.

Creating buildings of that size while maintaining their structural stability showed that the scientific knowledge of this race should be far beyond anything that people had encountered before. What was more amazing was that she couldn’t detect any magic from those buildings that would indicate that they had been enchanted to help support their frames. She did, however, feel a strong ki signature.

It makes sense. Sora noted from within the shadow. They haven’t had access to the runes that we learned from the goddesses. The odds of accidentally pairing a rune with its appropriate pronunciation… it’d be a miracle if they even get one or two. Ki, on the other hand, is something that they are innately born with, and don’t need excessive luck to learn.