Queen Ami was casting a healing spell upon Micah while Rorroco unstacked the sleeping Heroes.

"Do thou believe he will be alright? He hast not returned yet." Queen Ami commented, looking to the spot where they last saw Phaestus and the Pope.

"Three times now…." Micah huffed to herself, frustrated.

"Hmm?" Queen Ami turned her attention back to Micah.

"Oh, this is literally the third time he has done this. First was with the Basilisk Queen, then with that lecherous General, and now this. Haaaaah…" Micah sighed heavily.

"Thou seem'eth to believe he shall return?" Queen Ami finished healing her patient.

A wry smile came to the dark elf's face. "Yeah. Eric will. He is loved by the gods. They won't let him die."

"Thine eyes say thou art upset with him." Queen Ami observed with amusement.

"Oh, I am. When he gets back, we are going to slap him until we either forgive him or Eric makes it up to us." Micah smiled, a tinge of annoyance and anger in it. Queen Ami laughed.

Rorroco placed the last crystal capsule down.

"There! All done." She commented, shrinking back down.

"Hmm? Um, big sis, I think this one is cracked…." Ruby commented, looking intently at one of the capsules.

"W-WHAT?!" Rorroco rushed over to the one Ruby was looking at, and there was a single crack the length of a pencil on the surface.

"Oh, I thought it was far-." Rorroco started.

Crack. The crack expanded to double its size.

"Worse! It is definitely worse! Nononononononono! Please stop! AHHH! I was careful! Why is this happening?!" Rorroco flew into a massive panic.

"The others are cracking too." Ruby's comment caused Rorroco's face to shift to one of dread and regret, rambling madly.

"AHHH! Oh yeah. SENIOR GODDESS! PLEASE HELP! THEY'RE BREAKING!" Rorroco shouted at the top of her lungs.

"What's going on?" Micah and Queen Ami approached with concern over the terrified-looking giant.

"They're breaking," Ruby informed them flatly.

"Oh, dear." Queen Ami commented while covering her mouth with her hand.

"Ami! Is there anything you can do?!" Rorroco pleaded.

"I am sorry, Lady Rorroco, but this power is beyond me."

The capsules burst apart with loud, final cracks, vanishing, leaving nothing behind beyond the Heroes within them. One of the Heroes stirred, sitting up in a daze.

"Hmm? I was having such a good dream with my brother…." She looked up at Micah and the others.

"Oh, it's you guys. What's going on?" She looked around the area, upon noticing where they were, she rapidly woke up.

"What?! What are we doing here?! Why would you bring us here?! Is he here?! We have to run!" The girl stood in a panic.

Queen Ami calmed the girl holding her hand out.

"Calm thyself. That one is gone, never to darken our world again." She told the girl.

"H-How can you be sure?!"

Queen Ami gave the girl a calming smile.

"Because thou dost not carry the Mark of Domination anymore."

"What?" The girl whispered.

"Sister?"

She looked up at her brother.

"Brother… The mark is gone from your forehead." She said, tears welling in her eyes.

"Same with you, sister… Same with all of us." He hugged his sister.

Upon learning of their freedom of the mark, the now Ex-Heroes broke down to tears and celebration.

Eric slowly opened his eyes.

"I'm not dead? How much luck did Luna bless me with?"

A small barrier, just big enough for him to sit up in, surrounded him. His mask had been blown off by the force of the explosion, but in his hand was Yilan.

"Yilan? You saved me again." Eric looked around the Haven.

None of the buildings were left standing. His home, the workshop, everything was destroyed, and a heavy, black mist floated in the air.

All of the grass was gone, only dry cracked ground was left. The trees had all wilted into black hollow husks of what they once were. The hot spring was now a bubbling black tar.

"Wow, those curses are pretty potent." Eric tried to shift out, but he was still stuck in the Haven.

"Crap… They are going to be mad at me for this…." Eric noticed the barrier looked a bit smaller, Yilan vibrated in fear.

"Ah, so I guess we won't be surviving this. It's okay, Yilan. I stupidly sealed my fate. Ngh." The burns pained him.

Yilan then began to vibrate in anticipation.

"What is it, Yilan?"

"Up!" Was the word that rang in his head.

Eric looked up to see a thread-sized light, slowly piercing the darkness, making its way toward him.

"What is that?" Eric asked.

Yilan collapsed the barrier as much as she could to raise the height toward the string of light.

"Y-Yilan?!" Eric was getting close to being exposed to the black mist, just as the golden thread connected to the barrier.

"ERIC!" A loud and familiar shout rang into the barrier.

"Luna?" He flinched at the shout.

"Yes, you big dummy! Shift toward my voice! Hurry!" She cried.

Don't have to tell me twice.

Eric attempted to shift, but he stayed where he was.

I felt it. I can do it.

He focused on Luna's voice. Please… Before he knew it, he shifted out of the Haven.

White is the only word that could describe where he had appeared, an endless world of white and clouds. Eric felt that the air was similar to his Haven but far more potent with divine power.

"Eric!" Luna flopped on him, crying.

"AH!" The burns felt of razor blades, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Damn fool girl! Get off him so we can start healing him!" Elder Oribaba thwacked Luna's rump with her cane.

"Are you alright?" Senior Goddess knelt down next to him, channeling divine healing power into him.

"Alright, alright, we need to get that out of him before it begins to taint his soul." An unfamiliar god to Eric knelt before him.

"Who are you?" Eric asked.

"Me? I'm Lystmour." Lystmour pulled the Haven out of Eric's body. It was no longer the beautiful silver color it once was. Its core was now a sickening black with barely any of the silver at the edges. Eric felt as if a large hole had appeared within his soul.

"Ngh, that is really uncomfortable…." He commented, bringing a hand to the core of his torso.

"Better than leaving this in you." Lystmour replied, standing.

"Bring that over here!"

Eric heard a familiar voice as Lystmour moved over to the one who called.

"Master Hephaestus!" Eric was happy to see his master.

Hephaestus looked down at Eric.

"Good job, son. You've done the damned impossible." Hephaestus pulled out a golden orb that had intricate designs upon it. Hephaestus took the corrupted Haven and stuffed it into the sphere.

"Hah! I told ya it would work!" Hephaestus cried out happily.

"What is that?" Eric asked, curious as to what the object was.

"A prison for Tartarians. This locks them away. This will deal with the cursed Haven, though... it will never be the same, though… Sorry bout that…." Hephaestus trailed off, knowing how much Eric and his family loved the place.

"Hey, I was willing to sacrifice the Haven to save the world. No reason to apologize." Eric replied, wondering if he might be able to get Elder Oribaba's help in making a new one.

"But still, I feel bad about it, son…." Hephaestus trailed off once more.

"Eric." Elder Oribaba called out to him.

"You have done what we, the gods, thought impossible. Thanks to your actions, we will be able to more effectively deal with the curses without having to destroy worlds in the process." She explained.

"What do you mean?" Eric asked.

"From now on, instead of just going scorched earth, we will now just remove the bad and replace it with new." She added.

"So, kind of like changing the soil of a potted plant?" He asked, tilting his head.

"Heh. That is a pretty good way to word it. I like that." Elder Oribaba chuckled.

Eric then thought of his family.

"Wait! I need to get back! They have to be so angry with me right now…." He said, trying to move but winced in pain.

Hephaestus put an assuring hand on Eric's shoulder.

"Relax, lad. We will tell them. You need to focus on recovering. Curse burns are a nasty business. If it is not properly treated, it will eventually corrupt and kill ya." He explained, locking eyes with Eric.

"So, what can I do?" Eric asked, still worried about his family and the Heroes.

"You will stay here in the divine realm until you are fully healed. I am guessing it will take somewhere around eight months." Elder Oribaba replied.

"Eight months?! They'll kill me!" Eric cried, wincing in pain again.

"You really need to stop doing that, son." Hephaestus commented.

"It is alright, Eric. Time in the divine realm moves at a different rate than in the world. One day here is one hour in the world. Here, there are twenty-five days in a month. So you will be absent for only two hundred hours." Senior Goddess explained.

"So, just over a week...?" He asked.

"Correct." She replied with a pleasant smile.

"Well then, let's get the great savior of my world some rest!" With a clap of his hands, Lystmour created a bed for Eric, which Hephaestus scoffed at.

"Bah! That's not good enough for me, boy!" Summoning a hammer to his hand, Hephaestus focused his will into it before smacking it into the bed frame.

The bed altered, the base and backboard turning golden with elaborate, beautiful designs engraved into it. Atop the center of the baseboard was a sword sconce, and the bed radiated with divine power.

"Up you go!" Aphrodite, who had been quietly observing the whole time, picked Eric up, princess style, to carry him over to the bed.

I am so thankful Micah is not here to see this! I would never hear the end of it! Eric felt his face turning red.

After getting him tucked into the bed, Hephaestus picked up Yilan.

"You did very well to protect your father, little one. You can continue to help in his recovery by adding your purifying power to the bed. Yilan hummed in thanks as Hephaestus inserted her into the sword sconce in the baseboard. A divine barrier appeared above the bed, showering Eric in healing light.

"Thank you." Eric said, getting a large grin from Hephaestus.

Elder Oribaba looked upon the grinning god of fire with a smirk.

"W-what is it, you hag?!" Hephaestus demanded when he noticed her expression.

"Oh, nothing. I just wondered if you even noticed what you have been calling him this whole time." She commented, knowing him all too well.

"What do ya mean? I have been calling him by his name." Hephaestus replied, not really realizing the truth.

"Dearest, you have been using the term 'Son' this whole time."

Hephaestus straightened up to Aphrodite's observation.

"I, uh, you see, um, I uh, well…" Hephaestus continued to trip over his words, his face a deep crimson.

"Master Hephaestus." Eric called out to him.

Hephaestus turned to Eric, a worried look on his face.

"You felt it too, didn't you? The connection we seem to have?" Eric's words seemed to cause the God of Fire to relax.

"You too?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Ever since you helped me make the scrying tool. I cannot see you as anything but a father to me. Would it…?" Eric paused.

"Thank you, father." Eric stated.

"I…son…" Hephaestus choked out before bursting into happy tears.

Aphrodite smiled, shook her head, and hugged her crying husband.

"Well, I never would have thought we would be adopting, but this one is a good choice. Feel free to call me mommy!" She said to Eric.

"I'll, uh, stick to mother… Somehow it would feel strange calling the Goddess of love that…." Eric said, blushing a bit.

"Well, son." Hephaestus calmed down enough to speak once more after taking a deep breath.

"You will be staying with us while you recover. Once you are recovered enough, I will teach you all I know." Hephaestus stated, holding back another torrent of happy tears.

"You will have to meet your brothers and sisters." Aphrodite said.

I don't know whether to be excited or terrified… Eric thought.

"Eric." Elder Oribaba called out.

"Your rewards from us will be great, you know. Think of what you may want while you recover. Once you are up and about again, I will come to visit to discuss it further with you."

Eric thanked her.

"Alrighty! Let's head home!" Aphrodite called out. With a clap of her hands, the new family vanished.

"Now then, I shall go inform his family of his status and when he will be expected to return." Senior Goddess then vanished.

"Luna, come with me. We will be going to a meeting of the Omni-Gods to update them of this monumental information." Elder Oribaba said.

"What should I do?" Lystmour asked.

"Well, you have a world to look after, so look after it." She replied, annoyed before she and Luna vanished, leaving him alone.

"Why do I feel so useless…?" He asked the void of white around him, to which no reply came.

Two men stood before a building, looking up at a fancy decoration atop it.

"I feel like it is still off." One said.

"Agreed, but we have moved it seventeen times now, and this is the closest it gets to just right." The other replied.

A beautiful man with illustrious hair and skin watched the two men in bored annoyance.

"Maybe a bit more to the right?"

"No, we tried that."

The beautiful man stood up.

"Oh, by the…!" The beautiful man flew up to the top and adjusted the decoration slightly.

"Ah!" The two men exclaimed.

"I swear, for the demi-god and god of fire and crafting, you two are dull in at the most annoying of times." The beautiful man landed before Eric and Hephaestus.

"Thanks, Eros. Who knows how long we would have wasted on that." Eric laughed.

"Eternity, I figure." Eros replied with a wry smile.

The Senior Goddess appeared nearby and approached them.

"Eric. How have you healed?" She asked, looking upon his face.

Eric was left with burn scars that just discolored portions of his skin to a darker color, something like a calico cat with a tan.

"Well enough. Though it did sadden me that it could not be completely healed, but hey, at least I am alive." He replied enthusiastically.

She smiled at him. "Well, at least you are in high spirits."

"Eric has finished healing, so he will be heading home today. He has been anxious to see his family." Aphrodite approached.

Then, all of a sudden, three little girls flew down, tackling Eric to the ground.

"Gah! Lulu, Lili, Lele?" The three girls looked up at him with tears in their eyes.

"Is it true? Is it true?" "Are you really leaving us?" "Did we do something bad?" The three girls asked one after another.

Eric chuckled and patted their heads. "None of you did anything bad. It is just time for me to return home to my wives and children. I feel like I have been away too long, and I yearn to see them." He replied to them.

"Can't they come here?" "Here is fun!" "We will be good girls to Leros!"

He sat up and hugged all three of them. "Look, I might be back in the mortal realms, but you three are more than welcome to come to visit me. Just be sure to get permission from mother and father, and bring at least one older… I mean adult sibling." He offered them, knowing if he left what he said as it was, the three girls would have brought the one sibling that was only a little older than them.

After a bit of thought, their faces brightened. "Mm! Sounds fun!" "Sounds great!" "I want to play with my mortal nephew and nieces!"

Eric patted their heads once more before they moved over to hang off Aphrodite. Eric stood as several other of his godly siblings arrived.

"Everyone, I thank you for the hospitality you have all shown me. You warmly welcomed me as your sibling, and for that, I thank you. Though I may be returning to the mortal world, I hope you come to visit me sometime. I would love to introduce my family to you all."

Some of them teared up, others waved happily, and one looked a bit grumpy.

Allunvera… I know you will miss me too, though you pretended to hate me.

Eric smiled at her, which caused her to turn away in embarrassment. Hephaestus stepped up to him.

"If you ever want to return, let me know, son. You can betcha that I will be visiting when I can." Eric took Hephaestus' extended hand.

"Thank you, father." He leaned in and hugged him.

"How do you think they will react to it?" Hephaestus asked with a sly smile, separating from Eric's embrace.

"Before or after they slap me, silly?" Eric's comment caused the god of fire to laugh heartily.

"I think they will be stunned with it. Thank you for all the advice and help." Eric hugged his adoptive father once more.

"You're very welcome, son. Now, go get your licks out of the way and catch up with your loved ones." Hephaestus smacked Eric's back lovingly.

Eric nodded and went over to the Senior Goddess. After waving goodbye to his godly family, they vanished to return to his home.

A rabbit-kin girl sat impatiently outside the back of Lord's estate in Lenmos, rapidly tapping her foot.

"Ruby, are you sure it is today?" A merfolk girl asked.

"It is today Sherry. Senior Goddess wouldn't lie." She replied, frustrated.

They were watching over the teleportation circle in the rear garden. Before long, particles of light began to rise from the ring as it lit up.

"Ah! HE'S COMING!" Ruby cried out toward the estate.

Every person of the estate rushed out toward the circle. Within moments Eric appeared in the circle, along with a six-year-old girl with golden hair and dress. He opened his eyes to see all of his loved ones standing before him.

"Everyone…" Eric stepped forward quickly and embraced Micah, kissing her deeply for what seemed like minutes before letting her back up. He turned to Rorroco, and before she could react, he did the same to her. After letting her go, he turned to his first daughter.

"Ruby." He hugged her tightly while Micah and Rorroco seemed to be in a euphoric daze.

"Papa! I'm so glad you're home!" Ruby cried, hugging him tightly with tears in her eyes.

"Papa! Papa!" Leros cried out, reaching out toward Eric.

"My little Leros." Eric took hold of his son and hugged him lovingly.

"Big sis Micah? Big sis Roro?" Ruby asked, finally snapping the two women out of their daze.

"W-what? What just happened?" Micah asked, confused.

"I, I think Eric learned some things from the goddess of love." Rorroco commented, her face flushing.

Eric was in the midst of hugging his twin daughters Ashe and Ria.

"Ah! How I have missed you all!"

Micah and Rorroco looked at each other.

"Do you still feel like slapping him?"

"Not really, you?"

"Not really, but he will still have to make it up to us." "Agreed." The two wives conversed.

"I am so happy to be back home with everyone. I hope to discuss each side of what had happened during our separation, but let's change venues." With a snap of his fingers, they appeared in a large, beautiful garden.

""""What?!"””” Everyone exclaimed.

"Welcome to the new Haven."

The new Haven was ten times bigger than the previous one. There was a large home with plenty of rooms and all the latest technologies from Eric's old world. Connected to the house was a massive greenhouse full of divine fruits, vegetables, and spices. An orchard had a large number of trees, each one bearing a different type of fruit. Another side had an expanded and heavily upgraded bathhouse and hot spring. At the back of the Haven was a large building that was his new workshop, also with the latest and best of tools available. Everything was built by Eric and Hephaestus after they procured and figured out how to make the items themselves.

Everyone finished exploring around and came back to the garden where Eric awaited them.

"This place is… overwhelming, Eric." Micah said, sitting down at the large meeting table in the middle of the garden.

"Everything in here is a divine object." He replied.

"There is even a river flowing over there. How does that work? I thought this was a pocket dimension." Queen Ami commented, sitting down as well.

"That one I got help from Poseidon. I got to admit, he was one quirky god." Eric replied to her.

"Papa! A new airship! I finished looking around inside! It is smaller than Sheila's Heart, but it seems way nicer!" Ruby and Rorroco sat down at the table.

"That will be the personal airship of our family. Hermes helped a bit with the flight mechanism. We can fly anywhere in the world." He replied, petting her head.

Douglas, Ella, and many of their closest friends joined them at the table.

"So, it has been pressing on my mind." Eric started. "What happened after the Pope?"

It was Tanya who spoke first.

"It was odd, really. It seemed as though many people involved with the Church of Light just lost all their faith. They willingly surrendered. The cardinals and many high-ranking priests, though, took a few days to capture. They were corrupt to the core. The money had been collected, and the Allied kingdoms are currently holding it while figuring out how to distribute it. So the war ended without further bloodshed once you dealt with the Pope." Tanya finished her report.

"What of the kingdoms of Goun and Dawn?" He asked.

"There are currently being led by interim leaders from the Allied kingdoms until their fate is decided." Douglas answered.

"I see. Any breakouts of violence?"

"Nothing beyond our control Master Phaestus, er, Eric." Douglas answered once more.

"Just Eric now. The name Hephaestus had served me well during this time, but that is my father's name. Thusly I will just be Eric Bison now. No more masks." Eric said with a smile.

The many people at the table had smiles come to their faces.

"By the way, the Allied Kingdoms were plannin' on coming to Lenmos tomorrow to discuss several things with ye." Douglas informed him.

"Thank you, Douglas. I apologize for ending your vacation early. I will be sure to take you and Ella to Obai myself once the meeting tomorrow is done."

Douglas smiled and thanked Eric.

"Now, does anyone have a question for me?" Eric asked.

Every hand went up.

"Uh… Seems like this might be a long night."

"Um, Papa, who is the small golden girl that has been hanging onto you this whole time." Ruby asked the one colossal question that was plaguing their minds.

"Oh! I am so sorry." He turned and lifted the girl onto his lap.

"Well, this is another one of my children. Though all of you know her as Yilan."

Micah and Rorroco were about to explode in fury at him until he said the name.

"She's the god sword?!" They cried out.

"Um, nice to meet you, mamas. I am Yilan." The golden girl said shyly.

Micah's and Rorroco's hearts melted at the cuteness of the new addition to their family.

"Well, I'm okay with it." Micah said bashfully, turning to Rorroco.

"G-Good. I have no issue either." Rorroco responded with an awkward smile.

The rest of the questions mainly related to the new equipment of the Haven, some about the alien plants, pleads of marriage from Wanda, his time with the gods, and about the divine realm. The most curious one was an offer of betrothal to Queen Amerilladen, which Rorroco and Micah agreed with.

"Uh, I feel like something happened while I was gone." Eric said, seemingly a bit stressed out.

"My whole life's purpose was to end the curse. Now that is it done, my life now has little purpose. One of my dreams was to have a family of mine own. Though for a woman as fine as myself, I cannot be wed to any normal man, and who be more extraordinary than thyself Eric?" Queen Ami stated.

"And you two are fine with that?" Eric asked Micah and Rorroco.

"We are. You robbed Ami of her purpose in life. It is only proper that you take responsibility." Micah said, Rorroco agreeing.

"What about the elves?" He asked, grasping for any reason to avoid making a harem and getting some weird title like 'Harem King' or something.

"I may be of the royal blood of the elves, but I was nothing more than a figurehead in the village. They operate more on a majority decision." Queen Ami replied, dashing his attempt.

"I feel like there is more to this than you are telling me… Please let me think on it at lea-."

"""No""" All three ladies replied in unison, cutting him off.

"Just give up, Papa. They planned this whole thing out well ahead of time." Ruby hugged her lamenting father.

"B-B-But what about me? Can I join in?" Wanda asked.

Everyone present responded with a universal 'No,' causing her to burst into tears.

The various rulers from around the world were in attendance in the large meeting room in the new Haven.

"Thank you for welcoming us, Duke Eric…."

Eric smiled and shook the hand of King Alan.

"Thank you, your majesty. I understand it may be odd to be seeing me without the mask or alias. But I will be living as myself from now on."

Mr. Barlett had a warm smile on his face.

"Mr. Barlett?" Eric asked.

"I remember the day you and Micah traveled with us in that caravan all that time ago. To think that it was you this whole time."

Eric shook the man's hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Barlett. It was thanks to you that all of this happened. You were a part of the beginning."

Mr. Barlett puffed up his chest in pride.

"Good to see you, young man. You made the impossible possible, fulfilling my longtime dream." Lady Vannil and her husband approached.

"It is great to see you. Sorry, we have not visited more often." The two hugged like family.

"Bah, you were busy saving the world. I think I could forgive you." She said with a sly smile.

Eric smiled and handed her a small bag containing some cookies.

"Much obliged." She accepted them, laughing.

"Duke Eric." Queen Delvirra and the King of Dunlap greeted him.

"Your majesties." He bowed his head to them.

The two rulers greeted him but also gave sly smiles as if they knew something he did not.

What are they plotting…? Eric thought, suspicious of them.

They all took their seats after Eric greeted the young king of Merluka and his mother, Lady Leelu of Obai, and the King of Moona.

"Brother, what happened to the Heroes?" Queen Delvirra asked.

"They are currently staying in Lenmos with me. They lost all of their power and are just slightly stronger than your average person now. I will look after them until they decide what they want to do in the world." He answered her.

"That is good to hear. Now then, King Alan, shall we get to the main topic of this meeting?" Queen Delvirra passed the conversation to him.

"Now, Lord Eric, while you were absent, we spent a lot of time discussing what to do about the kingdoms of Goun and Dawn. The Emperor and all of his heirs were murdered, so they have no idea what to do now. Dawn is in utter confusion now that the veil of the Pope's influence has been raised from their minds. When the people of Dawn learned the truth, they wanted nothing to do with the city, claiming it to be a cursed place. No one lives in Dawn anymore, and it has been stripped of any and all wealth. So, we decided that we will have Dawn demolished, then all of its lands will fall under the jurisdiction of the new kingdom that will be born from Goun and its new ruler." King Alan explained.

"I see. So who was chosen to become the new ruler?" When Eric asked his question, everyone in the room, even his family, all had sly smiles on their faces while they looked right at him.

Hmm? Wait… No, they didn't. Even Micah, Rorroco, and Ruby knew?! Eric planted his face into the table in frustration.

"I think he likes the idea of becoming a king." Lady Vannil commented, bemused at Eric's reaction.

"A man as great as you cannot remain a mere Duke Eric." Queen Delvirra added.

"By marrying Queen Amerilladen, you would have the qualifications." The young king of Merluka cheerily stated.

These assholes played me… Fine. FINE! Eric raised his head, let out a long and heavy sigh.

"What of Lenmos?" He asked, annoyed, knowing they most likely thought of an answer for that.

"Lenmos will continue to be a part of your domain. Think of it as a summer home from your kingdom." The King of Dunlap responded. Eric sighed once more.

"Sorry, Eric." Micah, Rorroco, and Ruby apologized to him.

This feels like it is going to be a massive pain in the-.