For the next couple of weeks, Kai went around the continent enlisting the help of the various countries. With the help of the council whom he had formed a relationship with after the Immortal, it was easier than he had expected. In the end, he managed to negotiate with the countries.

He had also managed to meet with the other heroes save for the light and water hero who were pretty far from the capitals of the various countries. The fire hero hadn't stirred up additional trouble since that time, though it did look like he was waiting for more monetary support. The dark hero was let out of detainment and after meeting with Kai, cut off all contact with civilization.

The earth hero and the wind hero were steadily climbing the ranks of the adventurer's guild and were most likely, the strongest of the bunch. They were still in D-class, though. As far as Kai could tell, however, those two really had no interest in helping any of the kingdoms anytime soon. They would most likely affiliate with one once they've reached a certain level of power to guarantee their money.

Kai's decision was right to give up on the other four heroes. He had already decided to ignore them and only deal with them if it's an absolute necessity. One of them was even in his future wife's territory, so he couldn't just let them run amok and cause more trouble.

Superbia, the chain store that Kai set up all over the continent, had reached its limit. It would provide monetary support to all of the kingdoms who needed it so they could rally troops but, feeding a single kingdom's army and providing their equipment would already cost an astronomical amount.

What about over a dozen kingdoms?

He might be the richest man on the continent and the money he was gaining could allow him to spend as much as he pleased day after day, but, even for him, funding multiple kingdoms for war was too much. But, that didn't mean he would stop.

After all, what use was money if civilization was gone? If they won this war, then he wouldn't have any need for money anyway. And if they lost... he'd most likely have to return to the past once more. If they were able to, at least.

He was sitting on a chair with a desk in front of him. Behind him was the bed where Akane was still in a coma. They knew she would wake up soon, but didn't know exactly when. They had hourly rotations per day and currently, it was Kai's shift. He was writing something in his notes as per usual when his ears twitched.

He turned around to look at Akane and saw her eyelids move slightly. Kai quickly moved to the chair beside the bed.

"Akane, Akane..."

Kai called out and held her hand tightly. Her eyelids soon began to slowly part and her unfocused eyes looked at Kai.

"You've been asleep for quite a while. Do you want to wake up now?"

He looked into her eyes to see what she would want and after seeing her slowly close her eyelids again, he covered her eyes with his hands. If she had already woken up once, then that meant that she would truly wake up soon.

His guess was right as after half a day had passed, Akane woke up again. This time, it was Erina who was watching over her and after seeing her eyes open, she excitedly held Akane.

"Akane!"

"...Eri..." Akane coughed just as she tried to say Erina's name. Her throat was dry and her voice was hoarse. She wasn't like Kai who could remain as a normal person even when unconscious for an entire month. Though the body she was currently using was an angel's, an angel wasn't all that different from a human.

Erina quickly created water and slowly poured it into Akane's mouth. Once she drank enough water, Erina helped her sit up on the bed.

"Wait here, I'll go tell everyone!"

Erina made sure there was a pillow on Akane's back before leaving to inform everyone else. It didn't take long for them to burst into the room Yoko had tears in her eyes as she ran up to Akane. If it wasn't for Kai reminding her that Akane would still feel weak for a while, she would've embraced her as hard as she possibly could.

"Yoko... Kai..."

Akane muttered their names and reached out. Kai and Yoko leaned closer and allowed her to caress their faces. There was a child waiting by Amelia's side and she looked at Akane curiously. It was Aya.

Akane's eyes turned towards Aya and looked at her with furrowed brows.

"Kai... who is... the mother?"

"Cough cough!"

Erina accidentally choked on her own saliva after hearing Akane's words. Amelia giggled and walked forward with Aya.

"Aya is Kai's adopted daughter. I'm her adoptive mother, Amelia Tepes."

"I see..."

Simply brushing it off as her being another one of Kai's women, Akane turned her attention away. She looked at Erina and gestured for her to come closer. She took Kai, Erina, and Yoko, then gave them all a big hug. While doing so, she ended up falling asleep once more.

They helped her get back in bed and then left her alone so she could rest.

Everyone was happy. Yoko and Erina couldn't contain their excitement after finally being able to reunite with Akane while Amelia and Aya had their curiosity piqued from the girl that grew up with the three.

"I guess this is as good a time as any. Erina, Amelia, Yoko, come here and close your eyes."

Kai gestured for the three of them to sit on the couch and touched his forehead. Once his finger glowed a purple light, he tapped each of their foreheads and sent them to dreamland. He took care of Aya as the three fell asleep and after around ten odd minutes, they woke up in a daze.

"These are my memories of you three from the future, as you can probably tell."

"...That was strange."

"It felt like I was watching a movie."

"I didn't feel like myself..."

Amelia, Erina, and Yoko commented.

"Wait, Kai, if you had these memories before, why couldn't you just have given them to us?"

Erina asked. Perhaps it was because she had already reincarnated before, her sense of dissonance was a lot less than that of Heliana's.

"Can't you see? The memories I have aren't exactly pretty."

"...Ack. I guess that's true."

Erina didn't know what else to say. The version of herself she saw while she was asleep was someone who was cold and unfeeling, very unlike herself from today. Even when doing the act with Kai, her face would only slightly change as she let out moans. She held her hands to her face in shame.

Amelia was thinking deeply as she looked at her memories. She didn't say anything, but Kai already knew what she was thinking about.

"Amelia..."

"I'm alright."

Amelia quickly reassured him. The memories she saw had abruptly cut off, and she likely already knew what it meant. Kai had deliberately cut off any further memories of Amelia on Erina's side so she wouldn't worry as much.

Kai looked at Yoko who was making a variety of different faces, as if she didn't know what to say. Her interactions with Kai in that world were short and few, but nearly all of them involved glaring at him and blaming him.

"I don't have any memories to give everyone else. I had too little interaction with all of them."

Anastasia was one thing, considering that while they were enemies, they were the forefront of humanity. The members of the current Memento Mori had all split apart in the other timeline and strived to achieve their own goals and protect their own territories.

In terms of contact, Kai had the most contact with Erina and Amelia, followed by Anastasia, then Heliana, and then, the rest of Memento Mori with Yoko at the top of the list.

Seeing as how everyone was still digesting the memories they received, Kai decided to leave them alone. Aya hopped onto Amelia's lap and sat there.

"Mama, are you okay?"

"Yes... I'm fine, Aya."

Amelia stroked Aya's hair and rubbed her face into it. It seemed she was calming herself down.

Erina had her arms crossed while she tilted her head over and over. Yoko was slouched and had her hands and fingers intertwining with one another in front of her face.

Heliana had only received memories such as her sweet times with Kai, meetings that consisted of humanity's forefront, and a few other things. Erina, Amelia, and Yoko, on the other hand, received much more. Those years of fighting, years of sadness, years of pain and loss.

If Kai hadn't spent so much time with them, then they wouldn't have needed to be hurt so much. He felt guilt and at the same time, helplessness. He knew it in his heart, even if they were to try and leave him, he wouldn't be easy to get rid of.

Especially now that he's finally accepted that this wasn't Earth and his morals didn't necessarily apply here.

Kai decided to use his spare time to train his fighting skills. The battle with the Blind Swordsman made him realize something, while mana and Immortal Ki were both important, just having an abundance isn't enough. If he had the same skill with the sword, the fight would've ended easily.

At the very least, his shortest goal should be to beat Wake in an instant with only his skill.

"Learn to let go, focus on efficiency..."

Kai muttered as he began thinking about his arsenal. As of now, he was a jack of all trades, master of none. He could use any weapon but was that really a good thing? His scythe was great for reaping down hordes upon hordes of enemies, something he needed during the war.

However, couldn't he just use a sword and use more of his mana? The Blind Swordsman could create a canyon with a single slash, why didn't he just learn to do the same?

A blacksmith that could also sew would be a great feat, but could he claim to be the best in either area? Humans had potential to do many things but they all took time. If Wake, a prodigy with the sword, were to switch to a spear, he would still be a force to be reckoned with, but would his sword still be that sharp? Could he win against someone like the Blind Swordsman?

The answer was no.

Kai first came to this world and made his first weapon a sword due to the influence of Earth's culture. In the end, he went with a sword for a good half of his life. Even now, the greatest weapons he had in his pendant were swords.

Thinking that, Kai took out a wooden sword from his pendant and began swinging in earnest.

It was around half a day later when Akane woke up again. She looked tired but she looked like she could still stay awake for a few more hours. Yoko and Erina took turns telling stories to her about what's happened to them throughout the years while Kai told her about the future and many other things.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't able to save you."

"...You saved me now, isn't that enough?"

"Even so, I still let you suffer all these years, didn't I?"

Akane shook her head a few times.

"Kai, what's going to happen to Azrael?"

"Azrael?"

"The angel that was fused with my soul... Is she going to be alright?"

"...? Akane, the angel—Azrael is still alive?"

"Yes..."

Kai furrowed his brows. He knew that the angel at the very least, retained their personality and somewhat influenced Akane but he had thought of the soul as a dead one. One that didn't have any memories or feelings.

"Was she the one to tell you her name?"

"Yes... Sometimes, she speaks to me in phrases. During all these years, the only way I could stay sane was Azrael's presence. She comforted me whenever I was on the verge of breaking... So, will she be alright?"

Kai laughed and ruffled Akane's hair. While her body was that of the angel's right now as her real body was missing, he could still Akane within that body.

"Now that you've said this much, I'd be crazy to leave her for dead. Don't worry, I promise to save her no matter what."

"Kai...!"

A smile bloomed on Akane's face. It was faint, mostly because of an angel's quality to have stoic expressions, but it was the brightest smile she's made since she woke up. The mental fatigue and damage was already being healed and eventually, Akane would be able to fully express her emotions.

Until that day arrives, Kai decided to do his best and save Azrael.