After successfully picking up Mio, Eriri didn't immediately leave the adjacent dimension with her. Instead, she stayed with Mio in the realm to build their bond.
The newly born adjacent dimension contained no other living beings apart from Mio. Unlike in the original work, there were no quasi-Spirits waging various struggles across different domains.
Although the realm was divided into ten areas, there was currently no concept of the Ten Domains.
In the original development, the adjacent dimension evolved into the Ten Domains because Mio, when refining Spirit Crystals, would send humans whose memories had been sealed into the corresponding areas. Once these humans became true Spirits, they would become the initial rulers of their respective domains and creators of its rules.
Each domain corresponded to the angelic attributes of a Spirit—for example, the Tenth Domain was the Domain of Combat, the Ninth Domain was the Domain of Music and Dance, and the Eighth Domain was the Domain of Conflicting Winds…
These matched the respective Spirits: Tohka Yatogami, Miku Izayoi, and the Yamai Sisters, among others…
Quasi-Spirits are lifeforms centered around fragments of Spirit Crystals, but Mio no longer needed to divide her power to create Spirit Crystals. Thus, the refinement process was no longer necessary.
Without leftover Spirit Crystal fragments in the adjacent realm, quasi-Spirits would essentially not be produced.
It wasn't until around 3 p.m. that Eriri finally left the adjacent realm with Mio.
Normally, when a Spirit descends from the adjacent dimension to the real world, it causes a spacequake. But that only happens when a Spirit unconsciously appears in the real world—like when Mio was first born.
However, if the Spirit voluntarily manifests in the real world, then under their control, no spacequake occurs. This phenomenon is called Silent Manifestation.
Mio's appearance now belonged to this category, so even though she emerged onto a street in Tengu City, she caused no disruption to the surroundings.
Although Mio had gained a basic understanding of the world through her formidable learning ability, knowledge alone couldn't quench her immense curiosity.
At the moment, she clung to Eriri's arm and looked around with pure, inquisitive eyes.
To avoid drawing too much attention, Eriri gave Mio's astral dress a shapeshifting feature, allowing her to alter its appearance at will.
Mio chose to mimic Eriri's outfit, transforming her attire to match exactly.
Of course, even if she hadn't dressed in what looked like cosplay, the sheer beauty of both Eriri and Mio would guarantee 100% of the public's attention.
...
Meanwhile, in the DEM branch located in Tengu City, a silver-haired youth grinned ecstatically as he stared at the coordinate signals on a monitor in front of him.
"Ellen, your theory was right. 'Deus' really did appear in Tengu City," the white-haired young man said to the silver-haired girl behind him.
"That's not what matters, Isaac. The issue now is how we retrieve 'Deus'. We've already witnessed her power firsthand just a few days ago," the silver-haired girl replied impassively.
The two conversing were none other than Ellen Mira Mathers, who had recently been kicked out of the chat group by Eriri, and Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott, one of the co-founders of DEM Corporation and one of the three original creators of Mio.
After being expelled from the chat group, Ellen immediately found Isaac and told him everything about it without holding anything back—including all the events from the future she had learned about.
However, the memory playback uploaded by Eriri was set thirty years into the future. Ellen didn't know the events happening in the present day, only that the Spirit of Origin was highly likely to appear in Tengu City soon.
But for Ellen, this information was already more than enough.
From the results thirty years into the future, it was clear that although they had failed to capture the Spirit of Origin, they certainly hadn't been defeated by her. Otherwise, DEM Corporation wouldn't have survived for another thirty years.
However, there was one point Ellen couldn't comprehend: she had no idea how DEM managed to engage the Spirit of Origin directly.
She understood both the Spirit of Origin's power and DEM's capabilities very clearly—and right now, DEM was nowhere near strong enough to oppose her.
If they were, they wouldn't need Spirit powers to begin with. Just using their manifestation devices alone would be enough to destroy the world.
So the question they now had to solve was how to properly arrange their forces to ensure the successful capture of the Spirit of Origin.
Though Isaac found Ellen's words hard to believe, he didn't doubt her.
Thus, after learning that the Spirit of Origin would appear in Tengu City, he immediately brought Ellen and a large contingent of artificial wizards there, setting up a local branch in the city at top speed.
They then began full-spectrum Spirit energy monitoring of the entire area, awaiting the moment of the Spirit of Origin's descent.
Since Mio always wore her Astral Dress, the energy radiating from her was like a shining beacon to DEM.
This was why, even though Mio appeared in the real world without triggering a spacequake, DEM still detected her presence almost immediately.
"It doesn't matter. As long as a being has intelligence, it has weaknesses. Spirits are no exception."
Dressed in a white suit, Isaac sat cross-legged with a confident smile on his face. His eyes burned with desire at the mention of Mio.
"So we don't need to fight 'Deus' head-on. We just need to pinpoint her weakness—and strike a fatal blow!"
Ellen's eyes lit up. She seemed to understand now how DEM could have stood undefeated against the Spirit of Origin.
Recalling the memory footage, she understood that while Spirits possessed incredible power, in other ways they were no different from humans.
She believed Isaac's plan was exactly the one DEM had used to try to capture the Spirit of Origin in the original timeline.
Find the Spirit of Origin's weakness—and strike!
"Yes, you're right. Spirits do have weaknesses, like emotions," Ellen said excitedly.
"Exactly. Emotions are the easiest to exploit. So what we need now is time—time for 'Deus' to form a 'bond' in this world. When that time comes, all we have to do is seize that bond and then…"
He didn't finish, but his implication was crystal clear.
Ellen, swept up in Isaac's enthusiasm, suddenly remembered that while DEM hadn't lost to the Spirit of Origin in the future, they hadn't successfully captured her either. This made her uneasy.
After thinking it over, she spoke again:
"Isaac, your plan is solid, but I think we should proceed more cautiously. After all, even in the future, the plan didn't succeed."
"True, there are flaws—for instance, the 'bond' that 'Deus' forms might sacrifice themselves to protect her. And we can't be sure their emotional connection is deep enough for her to surrender…"
"Wait, Isaac, I have an idea! What if we proactively send someone to approach 'Deus' and earn her trust? If we succeed… we might be able to gain control of her without even fighting!"
As Ellen laid out her proposal, her eyes grew increasingly bright with anticipation.
This idea struck Ellen after recalling how 'Ratatoskr' handled Spirits in the memory footage. While DEM had no intention of sealing Spirits' powers to protect them, as Ratatoskr did...
They could still adopt the method of "dating to make them flustered" to gain the Spirit of Origin's trust and ultimately achieve the goal of capturing her.
Whether her affection reset afterward wouldn't matter once she was under control.
Ellen's suggestion made Isaac's eyes light up—he found the proposal highly feasible.
"It's definitely a great suggestion. But who should we send? Earning 'Deus's' favor and becoming her only 'bond' won't be easy for just anyone," Isaac said thoughtfully.
Not only was Elliot fascinated by the Spirit of Origin—even Isaac had been captivated upon seeing her.
So, naturally, Isaac's first thought was to approach her himself.
Although it carried significant risk, he felt that gaining control of the Spirit of Origin was worth it. As the founder of DEM and one of the only two remaining male pure-blood wizards, he believed he was the most suitable candidate.
But to his surprise, Ellen immediately rejected his suggestion.
"Not necessarily. A newborn Spirit is no different from a baby—emotionally pure and untouched. Gaining her trust shouldn't be that hard."
"You can't say that. Normal people would be nervous or fearful facing 'Deus', and she might pick up on that. It would ruin our plan."
"Fair enough," Ellen nodded. "Then who do you think should go?"
"Isn't it obvious? I believe only two people in the world could handle this—myself and Elliot. But as you know, Elliot would never agree to our plan, so…"
Isaac paused, then pointed at himself.
"So I should be the one to approach 'Deus'. That would be our best option."
His expression remained calm, concealing his true emotions. But a closer look at his eyes revealed how excited he really was.
"No!"
Ellen instantly rejected the idea, visibly agitated.
"You can't go, Isaac. It's too dangerous. We can't risk you like this."
"Calm down, Ellen. This is all for our revenge against humanity. Any risk is worth taking."
Ellen fell silent. Though she didn't want to see her comrade in danger, she understood his resolve—because she shared it.
If it meant enacting revenge on humanity, she would step into danger without hesitation.
Thus, DEM's two founders finalized a plan targeting the Spirit of Origin, codenamed 'Deus'.
After settling the operation, Isaac shifted topics.
"Ellen, how are things going with persuading Elliot?"
"No luck so far," Ellen shook her head gloomily.
"Pity. Elliot is far too naive. The death of a mere hundred million won't satisfy our hatred for humanity. This world's humans shouldn't exist."
Ellen didn't respond—because she agreed.
Ever since learning from the memory footage that Elliot would betray DEM in the future, Ellen had tried everything to talk him out of it.
She couldn't bear the thought of her comrade, someone who grew up sharing the same hatred, becoming an enemy due to differing goals.
But her efforts had been in vain.
After witnessing the casualties caused by the Spacequake, Elliot abandoned his hatred for humanity.
Ellen couldn't comprehend this shift.
Even knowing their actions had killed over a hundred million people, she felt no remorse—only the satisfaction of partial revenge.
If it weren't for the massive magic expenditure needed to create the Spirit of Origin and other constraints, she would have gladly caused more disasters in other densely populated areas.
And then there was Elliot's obsession with protecting Spirits. Ellen, who had always harbored feelings for him, couldn't help but feel jealous of Mio, whom he had only met once.
"Enough. Let's end this topic for now. What matters most is reclaiming the Spirit of Origin. Let's get moving before she slips away again. Once she's in our hands, even Elliot will have no choice but to yield."
"Understood. I'll begin preparations right away."
...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven