Chelsea and Treisha walked through the halls towards the source of the explosion, where they found a disheveled James sitting on the ground. In front of him was a large hole that had been blown into the floor, with cracks along the walls of the lab.

Chelsea sported an amused smile, crossing her arms. “Trying to get ahead of yourself?” she asked in a teasing tone, to which James chuckled.

“I thought that the energy fusion should work. Though… I’ll probably have to take it easy for a little while so that I can recover.”

Chelsea’s smile disappeared when she heard that, and she all but teleported to his side. “What happened?” She asked with a serious expression on her face.

“Huh? Ah.” James nodded his head, understanding the question. “My soul is damaged after that experiment. I created a familiar, and was trying to experiment on fusing with it by altering the structure of the familiar into something akin to a saint energy. Everything should have gone well, according to my calculations, but… there was a strange mana surge out of nowhere, and the familiar detonated.”

Chelsea thought about that for a moment, before nodding her head. “Got it. I’ll be right back.” She said, standing up and walking towards the door.

I rolled my shoulders, walking through the halls of Olympus. Tsubaki was working on her training again, and Dana was still on her secret project. As for Lifre, she had yet to return from Fyor. Thus, I was getting ready to go out alone and walk around.

However, before I made it outside, Chelsea walked out of the nearest elevator, calling out to me. “Dale!” She said, turning and running over.

“I’m surprised… you don’t usually come here.” I said with a small smile, before noticing the serious look on Chelsea’s face. “Did something happen?”

Chelsea nodded her head, explaining to me how James had been injured while attempting to perform an energy fusion with a summoned familiar. “Do you have any special systems in place in regards to familiars? This is James we’re talking about. He won’t do a fusion like that if he hasn’t done the proper calculations.”

It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about, my eyes opening wide. “Right. I forgot completely about that.” I nodded my head. “Back in the early days of Kione, I learned that there were people doing fusion experiments at the cost of innocent lives, turning them into abominations.”

“Because of that, I set up a mana storm to happen if someone did similar research. That way it would become a ‘forbidden path’, you know?” Honestly, I had always planned to release that restriction when the world became advanced enough to handle the process safely. However… that was one of the details that just slipped my mind as time went on.

“I see…” Chelsea nodded her head in understanding. “However, I think it’s safe to remove that disaster setting at this point. With how long it has been, people will still consider this an abandoned path of research. Only our group would be aware that it is safe to do so now.”

I nodded my head in agreement. “I’ll take care of that before heading out, then.” I said with a smile, causing Chelsea to blink.

“You’re heading out?” She asked, tilting her head. I felt like I should feel offended… I go out! Usually for training, though. It’s hard to find somewhere that I could unleash my full power.

“Yes… I thought that I would go out and enjoy the sights for a bit. Unless there’s another catastrophe lingering that I’m not aware of?”

“No, nothing like that. Though, are you not taking Tsubaki with you?” She asked, noticing the distinct lack of a fox maid behind me.

“She’s in the middle of her own training, and I didn’t want to disturb her.” When I said that, Chelsea let out a long sigh.

“In that case, I’ll be going with you.” She said in a firm tone, causing me to blink.

“What?”

“Exactly as I said. I am well aware that you are strong enough to defend yourself, don’t worry.” She gave a cheeky grin when she said that. “However, even a warrior king needs his guards. If there is some unforeseen event while you’re out, something that you’re not equipped to deal with, that’s why you have a guard in the first place. Besides, imagine Tsubaki’s face when she learns that you went out without anyone with you.”

I let out a faint groan, knowing that Chelsea was right. Besides, she probably knew more about the area now than I did. “Fine. I’ll be back in just a minute.” I told her, before ascending to the Admin Room. It only took me a few seconds to find the option to undo the disaster setting, after which I returned to my body in the mortal world.

Noticing my return, Chelsea gave a firm nod of her head. “I assume that you are at least planning to change your appearance?” She asked.

“Naturally.” I chuckled, my body shifting into that of a burly ursa man with brown hair and green eyes. At the same time, I employed an illusion to disguise my Keeper abilities, making me appear as just a basic God of Illusions. With how common gods were becoming nowadays, I felt like this was a pretty fitting disguise.

Chelsea arched a brow, but nodded her head. Her body shifted, her spine popping slightly as she similarly turned into an ursa woman. “It’ll be more convenient for us to move around if we look like we’re part of the same group.” She said in a confident tone. “So, where were you planning to visit?”

I thought about that for a long moment. “I went to Deckan last time, so I’d prefer going to one of the other worlds now.” In truth, I spent more time at Deckan than almost any other world. It was a rather convenient place to visit.

Chelsea smiled. “In that case, let’s visit Hanbei on Earth. Thanks to the influence of Elisae, the crime rate there is astonishingly low, and there are a great deal of interesting sights to see.”

I arched a brow, but nodded. Chelsea turned and walked back to the elevator to wait for me. As I got in, I looked over at her. “How has the process of Hanbei unifying the human lands been going?” I asked, to which Chelsea chuckled.

“It’s already a done deal. The Human Empire is centered around Hanbei now, with Elisae as the Empress.” I blinked for a moment when she answered. Chelsea, catching my confused expression, went on to explain. “The biggest opponent to the whole affair was King Kross. However, on V-Day, he stayed behind rather than retreating to Fyor. He even made a public statement that he had to defend his homeland no matter what, and that the other nations would surely use his absence to trick away his people.”

“Then… the murder game…” I blinked, and Chelsea nodded her head. The first apocalypse to hit Earth was a game in which you had to take the lives of other creatures.

“Not only the king himself, but all of his knights. Without hesitation, he ordered the sacrifice of civilians in fear of the void threat. It was only later that he realized that any life would do, but by that point… the second round required a more powerful life to be taken than the first round. At that point, crushing a bug was no longer an option.”

“By the end of the invasion, he had personally killed six of his civilians, and one of his knights. Most of his knights had similar body counts, and the citizens refused to accept it. They fled to the Human Empire after V-Day and informed Elisae about what had happened.”

Chelsea snickered as we exited the elevator, stepping out into the clearing outside of Olympus. “That was the first time that I had seen Elisae truly angry. In the name of every human under her rule, she made a single wish. She wished retribution upon those who had taken the lives of those under their care without a second thought.”

“Just like that, gods descended on his castle, putting an end to Raynard Kross and his knight’s order.” As Chelsea said that, she retrieved a golden token from her inventory, opening a portal for the two of us to step through.

On the other side of the portal, we appeared just outside of a bustling city. Unlike Ashtanu, this city did not feel ‘empty’, as if it had grown too large for its population. Rather, it was full of life.

The two of us walked towards the city casually, Chelsea explaining that this was the capital of the empire, none other than Hanbei City. “Is there a festival or something today?” I asked, looking at the lively atmosphere.

Chelsea simply chuckled. “No, this is pretty normal. Think of Elisae as the ultimate insurance salesman. Everyone devotes their faith to her in case something happens. For most people, they never encounter a problem that would outweigh the amount of faith that they provide. This lets Elisae constantly build her divinity while still answering the wishes of her people.”

I slowly nodded. “And the more people believe in her, the less of them actually need her help, because everyone’s already cooperating.”

Chelsea snickered in agreement. “That’s right. Unfortunately, nobody else has been able to copy her pattern. First of all, it requires incredible luck, which Elisae has by virtue of… well, her virtue. Secondly, they have to devote practically all of their own divinity as a ‘start-up’ fund. Elisae is basically the child of the karma system, so she is in a unique position to handle cases like this.”

As we entered the city, I was able to see people walking down the streets, smiles everywhere. Despite this, though, Chelsea’s eyes were constantly darting about, keeping an eye out for any potential assailant. “Hanbei City is the safest place in any world for most people. However, I would prefer it if you didn’t meet with Elisae yourself.”

“Any… particular reason?” I asked in concern, afraid that Elisae had changed after ordering the attack on Raynard Kross.

Chelsea chuckled again. “Like I said before, she is blessed by virtue. If her virtue decided that becoming the Keeper would improve Elisae’s life, you’d probably need Terra in order to solve your fate. Though, Elisae would never consciously decide that.”

“Right…” I agreed without hesitation. Fortune didn’t always care about what the person gaining said fortune really wanted, after all. As someone literally married to the Goddess of Fate, I knew that from experience. “In that case, where would you suggest we go?”

Chelsea closed her eyes in thought. “There’s a Mixed Reality Coliseum up ahead. Basically, contestants fight in virtual reality, while their battle is displayed in real time via three-dimensional holograms to give the appearance that they are still in the arena. This lets them fight with their full power, without worrying about civilian casualties.”

Nodding my head, I simply gestured for Chelsea to lead the way. She knew this area better than I did, so she would make the best tour guide.