Everyone turned to look at her. She showed no abnormal reaction at all—those eyes, so clear they seemed to reflect the very scenery of the world, stared straight at the city ahead, as if something interesting were hidden there.
"The aura of the Feathered Serpent God, a curse aura that chills even me, the aura of Hellscythe… and the aura of Demise—no, of its direct descendant… an interesting place."
The girl—namely the Infinite Dragon God, Ophis—murmured softly. She was indeed intrigued by what lay ahead.
"Interesting? It seems this place truly is as Ophis said—an interesting location."
The man called Cao Cao heard Ophis's words. While his curiosity was piqued, tension also rose within him.
He could not afford not to be nervous. One existence that could draw Ophis's interest was already acceptable—but having so many beings that could not be ignored named in one breath was a bit excessive.
He knew his own limits well. Although he wished to explore the limits of humanity, the most important thing was knowing himself. An existence that could interest Ophis was far beyond him and his companions—they would likely be nothing more than cannon fodder.
With both tension and intense curiosity in his heart, Cao Cao gazed toward the city ahead, his eyes burning with interest.
"I heard from Vali that the human named Raize defeated him head-on, and that his growth rate is abnormally fast. A pure human like that… I really want to meet him as soon as possible."
"But according to the intelligence, there are also quite a few supreme existences connected to him. Bringing Ophis along this time is only natural."
The blonde beauty—Jeanne—glanced at the silent Ophis and said, "It seems Lady Ophis truly is interested in this place. Being able to invite her out gives us a guarantee of safety."
"Although I don't want to rely too much on others, this time it's necessary for everyone's safety."
Cao Cao smiled at that. Looking at Ophis's blank, somewhat adorable stare, he rubbed his chin with interest.
"Since safety is assured, let's make a bold move. I hope everything goes smoothly."
"Georg, do it."
With a serious expression, Cao Cao gave the order.
"I understand."
From among the group, a young man in a red trench coat and glasses stepped forward. He calmly set his gaze on the city ahead.
He was Georg—descendant of Faust, who had made a pact with the legendary devil Mephisto Pheles, and the wielder of the Longinus Sacred Gear Dimension Lost.
As he activated Dimension Lost, a mist-like spiritual fluctuation spread from his body and rapidly expanded outward. In an instant, it covered everyone present, concealing their figures.
The fog then dispersed and spread toward the city ahead. When the fog remaining at their original position dissipated, everyone was gone without a trace.
This fog carried extremely subtle, hard-to-detect spatial fluctuations. Dimension Lost could infinitely expand spiritual energy from its user as the center, sealing anything that entered it—and even sending targets into a different dimension.
Georg dared not blanket a city harboring an unknown number of supreme beings. He could only disperse it and infiltrate in the most covert manner possible.
At present, he could freely choose, according to his will, which individuals to seal or transfer, as long as they were within the range affected by his fog.
---
Elsewhere, Raize—who was spending the night at a night market with some of his shipgirls and Eu—ran into a familiar face and an unexpected one.
The former was, strictly speaking, an acquaintance of Eu. The latter left an impression on Raize, as she was a magical garment girl.
Nene, a fellow resident of the Underworld like Eu, was flushed from alcohol, her expression dazed and unfocused. Beside her was a cute, pink-haired girl who had been drinking and chatting with her from the start.
This was Chris—the magical garment girl Chris—who had once been the teacher of Ariel, the one Raize had beaten into near-death state.
Her long pink hair was tied into a single ponytail draped over her left shoulder. She wore a cute white decorative hat that matched her white, narrow-sleeved dress, complementing her natural charm.
She looked just like a fairy from legend.
Unfortunately, this great fairy was ruining the image by tilting back a large bottle and chugging it down.
Reuniting with acquaintances, Raize brought Eu and the others to a restaurant and booked the place, letting Eu properly chat with her friends.
"Commander, is that lady your girlfriend? That energy aura is really…"
At Raize's table, a mature, beautiful woman with a voluptuous figure lifted her glass, sipping slowly. She looked with great interest toward another table not far away, where three women were laughing cheerfully.
Twin silver-white ponytails swayed at her sides as she turned her head. With champagne-colored eyes that seemed half-drunk, half-sober, she took a long look at Eu before turning her gaze to Raize, who was eating sushi.
Within Eugen's energy radar, even with Eu's magic suppressed, that terrifying power was impossible to ignore.
"Eugen, don't casually use your radar to scan others. It's rude."
Another woman—also with smooth silver-white hair and distinctive light-purple eyes, her figure no less impressive than Eugen's—spoke up. Dressed in casual summer wear, she exuded a dignified presence.
Noticing that Eugen's radar scan had drawn a glance from the dazed, drunken woman at the other table, Enterprise spoke to rein her in.
Those weren't ordinary people—you can't just run radar scans and expect them not to notice.
In just a few short days at the port, the number of shipgirls—aside from Enterprise—had once again increased significantly.
Curious about the outside world, they had followed Raize out.
"Perhaps they simply ignored us—confidence in their strength, maybe?"
Roon, seated beside Eugen, smiled charmingly as she spoke, clearly interested in the subject of power.
For such peculiar existences—and for Eu, who stood beside the commander—Roon felt a special kind of interest.
"Eu and that one are both Underworlders, races that live in the world of the dead. As for the pink-haired one, she's a magical garment girl from the matriarchal nation of Velliers."
Chewing sushi of admittedly mediocre quality, Raize signaled the owner for more dishes and drinks, calmly explaining the identities of the other table to the shipgirls.
"Underworlders… a land of the dead? This seemingly peaceful world is really quite interesting."
Friedrich, sitting beside Raize with a drink in hand, showed interest in such strange beings. What she cared about more, however, was the relationship between the terrifyingly powerful garment girl and their commander.
"Only peaceful on the surface."
Bismarck, sitting beside Enterprise and sharing a similar facial structure, picked up her chopsticks and spoke while eating the not-so-delicious meal.
According to the intelligence provided by the commander, this world was filled with supernatural forces—mythical beings truly existed.
To Bismarck, this world held no real sense of peace. Ordinary civilians simply lived beneath the surface, ignorant of the truth.
"By the way, Commander—this famous Eagle Union Enterprise is also a top-tier shipgirl, like Laffey, right?"
Bismarck and the other Iron Blood shipgirls could all feel the terrifying combat aura radiating from Enterprise, who sat beside them and bore some resemblance to Bismarck herself.
When facing Laffey before, they had felt an indistinct haze that obscured her true strength. Now that they themselves had grown stronger, the aura of this newly arrived sister shone like a blazing sun in the sky.
The Iron Blood shipgirls all looked toward the sole Eagle Union Aircraft carrier present, their feelings toward this top-tier shipgirl complicated.
Under the collective gaze, Enterprise showed no unease. After finishing her sushi, she wiped her mouth lightly with a napkin and smiled faintly.
"I'm grateful for the commander's favor. All of my strength is the result of his efforts—it's nothing worth boasting about."
After all, being born at the top was impossible without the commander's intervention. As their bond with Raize deepened and they grew stronger, they would obtain power seeds suited to themselves from him.
Several others like Laffey and Enterprise had appeared in the port as well. Besides Enterprise from the Eagle Union, there were three from the Royal Navy.
Illustrious, Belfast, and Unicorn—these three Royal shipgirls had now become the main stabilizing forces of the Royal Navy faction.
Laffey could no longer dominate among the shipgirls. With four top-tier shipgirls appearing in quick succession, the strength of the naval base had surged.
As Raize's appointed leader managing the port, Friedrich was delighted to see new generals added. At the same time, as the head of Iron Blood, she hoped that one day a top-tier shipgirl worthy of the commander would emerge from their own ranks.
Moreover, the commander had deliberately selected some particularly strong shipgirls and generously bestowed upon them even more terrifying power.
They could not accuse Raize of favoritism. Shadow clones of Raize worked diligently throughout the port every day, accompanying and planning training for every shipgirl.
From level one, the shipgirls grew stronger at a speed even they found unbelievable, under Raize's research technology and guidance.
Raize did not hide the shadow clone technique from them. Given the shipgirls' powerful physiques and stamina, he even shared it online for them to practice freely.
Their growth also benefited from the accumulation of shadow clone experience.
But having personally experienced the crushing fatigue caused by excessive shadow clone accumulation, the shipgirls often thought of the commander—maintaining over five hundred clones in the port and small worlds.
How hard and tirelessly that man worked—for them and for the port.
With such dedication, even the birth of top-tier shipgirls only evoked admiration. Jealousy or resentment over favoritism simply did not exist.
"These top-tier shipgirls were born for what comes next. Before long, you'll be sortieing with me. I'll take you to another world for real combat experience."
Raize smiled faintly and glanced toward Eu in the distance, who was being affectionately rubbed on the cheek by Nene and looking back at him with innocent eyes.
His words immediately piqued the shipgirls' interest.
The most excited was Roon. Raize knew this girl possessed astonishing combat lust and destructive desire—this news delighted her the most.
"Oh? Another world? What an exciting first sortie."
Eugen smiled alluringly, interest gleaming in her eyes as she lightly bit her slender finger.
A first sortie—and to an unknown other world. How could an Iron Blood shipgirl not be thrilled?
Her seductive posture and smile even left a female server staring in a daze, cheeks flushed.
Working part-time there, Nanami Aoyama—despite being a woman herself—couldn't help but be drawn in by Eugen's charm.
She felt that the women at that table were all stunning in looks and presence. She recognized Raize—the one calmly chatting with women who looked like celebrities.
After all, he was among the top academic elites at school, a figure with a unique reputation.
The women seated with him clearly had close ties to him, yet it didn't look like what she had imagined.
Because those women seemed to hold a kind of respect toward Raize—something Nanami found strange.
No one at the table paid any attention to Nanami's subtle glances. She was just an ordinary person.
However, as Nanami cleared dishes and secretly observed Raize's table, Raize—who was eating sushi—suddenly turned his head, his gaze icy.
The chilling look startled Nanami. Thinking she had been caught, she immediately looked away.
But Raize wasn't looking at her. His eyes were fixed on the window outside the restaurant. The shipgirls, deeply connected to him, all adopted the same indifferent expressions.
"Waiter, the bill. No change."
Raize placed yen on the table and stood up. The shipgirls rose in unison and followed behind him.
Eu's side paused their conversation. Light flickered in the girl's eyes as she looked at Raize approaching—she had clearly sensed something as well.
"Stay here. I'll be back soon."
Ignoring the curious looks from Nene and Chris beside Eu, Raize wore a warm smile unlike his usual coldness. He gently raised his hand and patted Eu's head.
Beneath his palm, those bright sapphire-blue eyes reflected a fleeting image—only Raize could see it—the twin-serpent staff flashing within her pupils.
As the warmth left her head, Eu calmly watched Raize depart with the shipgirls, silently setting down her notebook.
[Be safe. Come back quickly.]
With drunken curiosity and investigative interest in her eyes, Chris smiled dreamily at Eu and let out a satisfied belch.
"So Nebiros was right after all. When she said you'd get a boyfriend, I thought she was joking."
"And your boyfriend even crippled Ariel. Just hearing about it made me feel relieved—too bad I couldn't do it myself."
She had taken part in the rebellion against the Queen of Velliers, only to fail.
As the strongest magical garment girl, she was cursed as the revolutionary leader—losing her power and personality, turning into a personality-less middle-aged man.
Only when drunk could she temporarily revert. For such a cute girl, it was pure torment.
As the only one who had escaped the curse—Ariel—Chris harbored deep resentment.
"It seems that guy is very diligent about protecting you, Eu-chan. I can feel how important you are to him."
How could they not be important to each other? Anyone who dared offend Eu was eliminated without mercy—vampire ninjas being the prime example.
This guardian at Eu's side was gentle to her, but to others, he was no soft-hearted existence.
Seeing the worry in her dear friend's clear eyes, Nene understood that Eu cared deeply for that man as well.
Nene was very curious about Raize. Anyone who could make Eu like this deserved her gratitude.
And Eu had told her that the hidden danger in her magic was gradually being eliminated with Raize's help. Before long, she would be able to live freely.
For that, Nene was sincerely happy for her friend—she understood better than anyone how much Eu had suffered over the years.
"So, Hellscythe—since he can resolve the hidden dangers of your power, could you ask him to help lift my curse?"
With Raize gone, Chris finally revealed her true motive. If he could solve the center of the world power issue of Eu, then perhaps there was hope for removing her curse as well.
To lift it, Chris was willing to pay a price.
---
Meanwhile, Cao Cao's group—moving rapidly through the Dimension Lost poxket space—had already arrived at Raize's home.
They were blocked by the astonishingly defensive barrier surrounding the house. However, the occupants inside had come out.
But…
Cao Cao frowned as he looked at the two fragile-looking girls standing within the barrier at the doorway.
Asia, forming holy light spears with both hands, stood on guard. Beside her, Haruna had transformed into a pink magical garment form, with Beowulf—temporarily lent to her by Raize—reinforcing her hands and feet.
Outside Raize's barrier, a pair of black-and-white cat-eared sisters were restrained as prisoners. Kuroka wanted to help Haruna and the others, but she was outnumbered.
Now, with all their power sealed, they were bound and immobilized.