"So, have you all decided on your new identities yet?"
"Yeah."
Diablo grinned. "I think Satan suits me perfectly."
"As for me, I've chosen Lilith."
"Isn't that Luminas's—"
"First come, first served."
Testarossa didn't spare a single thought for what Luminas might feel. "She was just a step too late."
"Uh…"
Damien suddenly pictured Testarossa and Luminas coming to blows over the same thing even in the Campione world.
"Eh, whatever. Do as you like."
Damien honestly didn't care how the other world turned out. Once Violet finished dissecting the Campione universe, he could rewrite anything he wanted—revive the dead, reset time, twist reality, rewrite memories. For a true god, those were the simplest things imaginable.
"Who's coming with us as the first batch of crossers?"
Nearly twenty Demon Lords were present. Damien couldn't drag everyone along at once; it would be far too crowded and risk irreversible damage to the Campione universe. Violet's calculations were clear: everyone could eventually claim ultimate power, but they needed to go in stages.
"We'll wait for the next group."
Ultima and Carrera still had loose ends to tie up. They'd set their own crossing for two weeks later—once Testarossa and Diablo had carved out a foothold, they'd slip in and take their share.
"Frey and I still need to stabilize the Sky Kingdom and Beast Kingdom."
Frey and Karion couldn't leave yet either. Their affairs weren't settled, and they weren't about to rush off to another world for power—especially Karion, who hadn't even finished digesting his latest gains. Snatching a new Ultimate Skill on top of that would be pure greed.
"Please let me accompany Lady Luminas."
Hinata's request caught Damien slightly off guard. Of course the two women weren't after ultimate power; they simply wanted to use the trip to lend him a hand. They felt far too indebted to him, and the only way to ease that guilt was to do more.
"That's fine."
Damien didn't refuse. If Luminas and Hinata wanted to come, he saw no reason to stop them. "Anyone else?"
"For the first wave, besides me, we can take up to seven more."
Testarossa, Diablo, Luminas, Hinata—that made four.
"Boing!!"
Ogerpon, who hadn't had much screen time lately, shot his right hand into the air, clearly dying to tag along and play with Damien.
"Please take us too, Lord Damien."
Shuna and Shion had been with him from the very beginning and were now his consorts. The thought of him heading out without anyone to look after him worried them sick.
"Done."
After counting heads, Damien said, "We'll wait roughly two weeks between the first and second crossings. Next round gets seven spots too—you decide among yourselves."
With that, he told Violet to begin preparing the descent ritual.
The new world came with special rules. Outsiders first had to deal with the Campione universe's World Will. Violet knew the drill and handled it without breaking a sweat. The real hurdle was the second barrier that came after fooling the World Will: the Realm of Immortality.
Also called the Immortal Domain, it was the mythic home of the gods. Most of those deities were sealed inside their own legends—essentially asleep by human standards. And it wasn't something you could reach through ordinary means. Even a creation-class being like Damien couldn't bypass the world's rules to touch the gods inside. Destroying the Realm of Immortality would require collapsing the entire Campione universe's worldview first, which was impossible. Even if it weren't, Damien would never do something so shortsighted.
"It's time, Damien."
"Got it."
Damien nodded, then looked at his followers. "Hinata and I will go first this time. The rest of you stay ready and wait for our call."
He stepped up to the throne in the Demon Lord's castle and closed his eyes to focus. Hinata did the same. Like him, she was projecting herself in human form.
As for the others… they couldn't enter the Campione universe right away, but they projected their consciousnesses into the Realm of Immortality, drifting around and preparing to claim their places the moment an opening appeared.
Beep! Beep-beep!!
Warm sunlight spilled across the street after the spring rain. Clusters of pale yellow wildflowers pushed up through the damp soil along the curb. The white lane markings looked freshly painted, and fluffy dandelion seeds danced on the breeze, drifting over the crosswalk toward the budding shrubs beyond the guardrail.
A gentle wind tugged at a faded lucky charm hanging from the bottom of a rearview mirror. Sunlight glinted off the metal pendant and flashed straight into someone's eyes just as a sharp horn blared from the car behind, scattering a flock of sparrows pecking at seeds on the pavement.
"Where… is this?"
Hinata, who had been sitting properly in the Demon Lord's castle moments ago, suddenly received the sights and sounds from her other body.
A light breeze brushed her face, lifting strands of her long black hair. She tucked one behind her ear and began studying her surroundings.
A modern metropolis. Cars everywhere. Bustling streets.
It all pointed to one thing—she was back!
Even if this wasn't the exact hometown she remembered, Earth was still Earth. Just being here again filled her with quiet satisfaction.
"How does the new world feel?"
The sudden voice broke into her thoughts.
Hinata turned quickly and let out a startled cry. "Lord Damien?!"
"Mhm, it's me."
Damien nodded, then added, "Come on, let's not stand in the middle of the road. We're blocking traffic."
Sure enough, the two of them had appeared right in the center of the street. Their sudden arrival could have caused a scene, but Violet's cover had kept any urban legends or ghost stories from starting.
"Let's go."
Without giving her room to argue, Damien took her hand and led her across to the other side.
Soon they stood in front of a storefront.
"How does it feel?"
"Very strange."
It was Hinata's first time experiencing anything like this.
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