It was a perfectly ordinary place, little more than a makeshift open-air conference venue. At least for now, it didn't seem as though the host had set any traps.
That was the conclusion Epsilon reached after surveying the area. It made sense. Judging from what she'd managed to coax out of Azazel on the way here, this was an academic presentation being held by the Cult of Diablos' Round Table member responsible for research in this field. It was also a private event for a small circle of acquaintances, so most of the attendees were probably friends of the host. Naturally, there would be no reason to set traps.
Before leaving Shadow Garden, Epsilon had been responsible for looking after Eta, so she understood the mindset of mad scientists like this quite well. For an invitation issued openly and aboveboard, there was little chance the host intended to cause trouble.
Still, a Round Table member of the Cult of Diablos... dedicated to research?
Epsilon glanced at Azazel, whose expression had stiffened the moment the Third Primogenitor appeared, and a thought began to form in her mind.
She remembered perfectly well what Azazel had said on the way here. He had no intention of getting involved in conflicts between other factions, but he had also said that he'd been invited to attend this research-oriented Round Table member's presentation. Since Epsilon and the others had come with him, if they tried anything here, Azazel would stop them.
But the man had to die.
Before leaving Shadow Garden, Epsilon had taken care of Eta. Precisely because of that, she knew better than most just how much a researcher of this caliber could contribute to an organization.
At the same time, Epsilon was painfully aware that they couldn't defeat Azazel. They could escape from him, but beating him was out of the question. Her original plan had therefore been to wait until the presentation ended before making her move.
Given the current situation, however, she might be able to kill that pretentious fraud halfway through the presentation instead.
The longer they waited, the more chances something unexpected had to happen. As long as she moved fast enough and didn't give him a chance to pull out some strange little gadget, the plan might actually work.
Sitting in one of the chairs near the front and staring at the empty podium, Epsilon looked as though her mind had wandered elsewhere. In reality, she was listening closely to the conversation between Azazel and the Third Primogenitor.
Most of what they said wasn't particularly noteworthy. They were simply probing each other about their backgrounds, why they'd come here, and what information they possessed.
But Epsilon caught one important detail.
The Third Primogenitor didn't seem especially fond of the man named Laugus who had invited her. In fact, she appeared to harbor a certain amount of hostility toward him.
If that's the case, then we might have an opportunity...
After thinking it over, Epsilon hesitated. Before deciding what to do, she needed to sort out the priorities.
There was no question that Laugus ranked extremely high.
The only information Epsilon had on this legendary figure was what Eta and Zeta had reported before. Several thousand years ago, he'd apparently grown disgusted with how useless the Cult of Diablos was, left the organization, and gone off alone in pursuit of the truth.
The consequence was that the Cult of Diablos' technological progress had almost completely stagnated.
Those few brief sentences from Eta and Zeta's report were more than enough to demonstrate how terrifyingly capable he was.
Epsilon had no idea why he'd returned to the Cult of Diablos, but someone like him absolutely could not be allowed to remain alive. Perhaps Shadow-sama had sent her here specifically to eliminate him.
Then there was Yuuma Tokoyogi.
Originally, Epsilon hadn't cared much about this Witch. She didn't know her, and with so few clues, finding her had been nearly impossible anyway. Her attitude had simply been that tracking down the Cult of Diablos through her would be ideal, but failing to do so wouldn't matter much.
Now, however, Yuuma Tokoyogi had appeared in connection with their affairs several times in succession. Shadow-sama had even mentioned her personally. On top of that, there had been that spectacular scene of runaway Magical Power in the sky, followed by Epsilon boldly declaring that she would protect her.
That meant this descendant of a Witch had to be given high priority as well.
Aside from those two, the next priority was probably Laugus' academic presentation itself.
He had gone to considerable lengths to organize it, and based on Epsilon's experience with mad scientists like Eta, whatever he intended to present was bound to be extraordinary.
Perhaps the information really was important.
"It seems only a handful of people had enough free time to attend my 'World Divergence and Original Location Template' presentation in person. Far fewer than I expected... And it seems several people here weren't even invited by me."
While Epsilon was thinking, a man in a white lab coat had somehow appeared behind the podium. He swept his gaze across the audience, paused briefly when he saw Epsilon and her two companions, then spoke with a trace of disappointment.
"Hey, Laugus. This should be the first time we've met face-to-face, right? I'm Azazel, the one who's been in contact with you all this time."
The moment the man in the white coat appeared, Azazel stopped verbally probing the Third Primogenitor and turned toward the podium, greeting him warmly.
"A pleasure to finally meet you, my dear friend. I'm truly delighted that you came."
Laugus smiled as he accepted Azazel's greeting, then gave Azazel and Giada beside him a meaningful look.
"Haha... That's quite the welcome. So, Mr. Laugus, would you mind introducing this distinguished guest? Unless I'm mistaken, the esteemed Third Primogenitor isn't exactly part of our little circle."
Seeing the look Laugus had given him, Azazel forced out a laugh.
The ominous feeling in his chest was getting stronger by the second.
He had the distinct impression he'd been tricked.
Honestly, Azazel hadn't thought much of the invitation at first. He had attended more than a dozen academic presentations over the years, and not one of them had ever caused any trouble.
There was absolutely no reason to panic.
At least, that was what he'd thought.
Now he was starting to panic.
Could someone please explain why the Third Primogenitor was attending a private academic presentation for their tiny circle?
Weren't the Three Primogenitors completely uninterested in scientific research? Weren't they the type who only cared about watching something entertaining happen?
Ordinary people might not know much about the personalities of the mysterious Three Primogenitors spoken of in legends, but the upper echelons of the major factions knew them very well.
Every last one of them was the sort who enjoyed stirring up trouble just to watch what happened. Wherever they appeared, something usually went wrong.
And if one of them showed up at an academic presentation they normally couldn't care less about, then patiently sat there waiting for it to begin, that only made the event seem even more unusual and significant.
Azazel's earlier probing hadn't uncovered anything at all, which only made him more anxious.
So no one could blame him for being impatient.
Anything involving three Transcenders was something he absolutely did not want to get dragged into.
"Oh? Don't look at me like that. Someone invited me here as well. I don't have the faintest idea what's going to happen here, so I'll need the person who invited me to explain it."
Seeing both men turn their attention toward her, Giada maintained her amused smile and leisurely surveyed everyone around her.
Azazel might be panicking, but she certainly wasn't.
Not even a little.
Even if everyone present joined forces against her, they still wouldn't be able to defeat her. What did she have to be afraid of?
For now, she was simply here to enjoy the show and see what sort of scheme these people had prepared for her.
At the same time, she intended to swallow every last piece of bait Laugus had used to lure her here.
This time, she was taking everything.
"Relax, my dear friend. I genuinely have no schemes involving any of you. I merely need you here as witnesses to something."
Laugus immediately understood what Azazel was worried about and gave him an exasperated look. After offering a few words of reassurance, he turned toward the Third Primogenitor.
"As for Her Excellency the Third Primogenitor, I simply asked for a little assistance from her earlier in order to verify something and promised her some compensation in return."
Hah.
Not a single person present believed him.
Still, no one openly challenged the claim. They simply remained silent, tacitly accepting it.
"Fine. In that case, all I ask is that none of you start fighting on my turf. At the very least, wait until everything here is settled before you do. Can we agree on that?"
Laugus knew perfectly well that nobody present had entirely innocent intentions, but he didn't bother pressing the issue.
He had already told them the truth. Whatever they imagined beyond that wasn't his problem.
Instead, he turned his attention to Epsilon's group, none of whom had been on his invitation list, and proposed a temporary truce.
"...That's fine with me."
Feeling the attention of the other two parties turn toward them, Epsilon fell silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.
Satisfied, Laugus nodded, lifted his head, and raised his voice.
"All right. It's already this late, so everyone who intended to come should be here by now. As for the other friends I invited who haven't arrived, I suppose they're busy with other matters. They'll have to settle for the livestream."
"In that case, let's begin today's presentation..."
"Apologies. I'm a little late. I assume no one here objects?"
A pleasant female voice interrupted the rest of Laugus' sentence.
The rhythmic sound of footsteps followed, and a woman dressed in a loose kimono entered the venue while carrying a loli.
Her elegant bearing couldn't entirely conceal how disheveled she looked. She had clearly rushed here immediately after finishing a battle.
Aya Tokoyogi appeared before them carrying Natsuki Minamiya, whose face was filled with despair. Being restrained by her own weapon in front of so many people had left her face burning red with humiliation.
"Welcome, welcome. How could I possibly object? Ms. Tokoyogi, you're one of the collaborators who provided me with a large amount of information on World No. 2. Of course I'm glad you could make it."
"Hah. Collaborator? Since when?
"Or did you think giving me a title like that would make me overlook the fact that you took my daughter away and nearly caused me to be stranded there amid that entire mess?"
Aya Tokoyogi let out a cold laugh, though she didn't actually lose her temper. She casually tossed the restrained Natsuki Minamiya onto a chair, ignored the furious glare directed at her, and stared coldly at Laugus.
"But you did want to investigate the truth of the world through me, didn't you? Besides, if you truly cared that much about your cloned daughter, you wouldn't be standing here talking to me right now. Sit down. I'll give you an answer you'll be satisfied with."
The two stared at each other for several seconds.
In the end, Aya Tokoyogi chose not to attack Laugus. She merely gave another cold laugh and sat beside Natsuki Minamiya, casually holding down the latter as she squirmed like a caterpillar.
"Watch closely, my friend. Much as I despise this man, I have to admit that his investigation into the truth of the world has gone further than mine. So let us see which of us was right."
At those words, Natsuki Minamiya finally stopped her pointless struggling.
She glanced at the man on the podium, then obediently settled into her chair.
"First, I must express my condolences to those friends who couldn't come in person and can only watch through the livestream. You've missed the best opportunity to learn the truth of this world."
Laugus snapped his fingers, and a Magic Circle suddenly appeared before him. He addressed it loudly, and the genuine regret in his voice made it obvious that he truly believed what he was saying.
Azazel's mouth twitched.
He could already imagine how annoyed the people watching remotely must be.
They had probably tuned in eagerly to see their friend present his research, only to be greeted at the very beginning with such a condescending remark.
Even someone as easygoing as Azazel felt the urge to curse at him.
Unfortunately, the livestream only worked one way, so there was no way for the viewers to talk back.
And knowing the personalities of most people in their circle, they would probably suppress the urge to curse Laugus and keep watching all the way to the end anyway.
In other words, they had no choice but to endure it.
"Everyone, before I reveal the subject my partner and I have been researching, I'd like to ask you a question."
"Don't you find something strange about World No. 1 and World No. 2?"
Everyone frowned almost simultaneously.
Clearly, none of them understood what Laugus was getting at.
What could possibly be strange about two different worlds?
Of course there would be differences between them. That was perfectly normal.
Laugus swept his gaze across the audience. When he saw that even Azazel, in whom he'd placed considerable expectations, had failed to notice the problem, he shook his head in disappointment.
He had thought his hints were already obvious enough.
Then again, perhaps there simply weren't enough people here.
Had more of his invited guests attended, Laugus was certain that after such blatant hints, at least one or two of them would have realized what he meant.
And those few people were precisely the ones Laugus was looking for.
"It's the astonishing similarity between their mythology and history, despite the fact that their fundamental realities are completely different."
Laugus sighed in exasperation at their failure to notice something so obvious, though he didn't continue criticizing them. He had no particular interest in attacking people over it.
"Of course, I can't blame you for failing to notice. The environments you grew up in conditioned you to see all of this as perfectly natural. You're simply too close to the situation to recognize how strange it is."
"Even I only noticed this discrepancy after receiving an invitation from a certain purple-haired Elf friend who prefers to remain anonymous."
Azazel swallowed hard.
At Laugus' words, it felt as though the entire world had begun spinning around him. Cold sweat poured down his back.
Of the three worlds that had fused together, World No. 1 and World No. 2 were both worlds where technology and magic coexisted.
Their histories and mythologies were also almost identical.
World No. 3 alone was different. Its technological development was only around the level of the Second Industrial Revolution, and its history and mythology bore virtually no resemblance to those of the other two worlds.
When they'd first investigated the situation, they had assumed World No. 3 was the strange one.
But now that Laugus had pointed it out...
When World No. 1 and World No. 2 differed so drastically at the most fundamental level, wasn't the truly strange part that they had somehow developed nearly identical histories and mythologies?
Unlike Azazel, who was reeling from the realization, Epsilon cared far less about these confusing questions.
Her attention had been caught by something else entirely.
Why did this anonymous purple-haired Elf sound so familiar?