Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Serafall watched as the edge of the walls closed up and while they were at it, they could also see Serafall's ice cracking and bulging up even though she was continuously supplying the ice sheet with her Demonic Power, "How are we supposed to fight that thing? From the looks of it, it could be harder to deal with than Trihexa and we're just three people right now."
"As we are now, we don't really have a way to fight that thing head-on." Kisuke replied, "But we've got so much head start that it's actually really easy to deal with it."
Yoruichi looked at him and asked, "But the fact that we're delaying this means we have other problems? Aside from the guy above us, what else?"
"Of course. And that's everyone in this world." Kisuke didn't explain it further and took out two bottles containing 1 liter of a red translucent liquid, "We have three days, please spread this throughout the entire world."
Serafall's state returned to normal and she inspected the bottle before turning her head to Yoruichi who did the same, "Couldn't we have done this earlier?"
"It would have been detected." Kisuke answered and grinned, "Thankfully, that guy above is doing us a great favor by blocking the Deities' senses. There's no better time for it than now~"
"So you never trusted any of them," Yoruichi murmured while keeping the bottle.
"I did give Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama the antidote so they're safe. And it's not like it'll kill most of them since it's pretty easy to nullify it."
"Then what's the point?"
"Just in case, it's rat poison."
.
.
.
With Riveria's protection, a large barrier was erected covering the entirety of Melen. But despite most of the monsters being eliminated, the atmosphere was a lot heavier compared to the monster's siege from a day ago and all of the Deities present in the vicinity were gathered in one large hall that was hurriedly built to accommodate everyone.
All of the mortals were not allowed to enter the hall but everyone could hear the intense shouting and argument within it and they were worried that it could devolve into a large brawl soon.
Not far from the hall was the Loki Familia quarters and everyone was gathered around the two main characters that had a lot of explaining to do, Ais, who'd returned to her normal human form and Riveria.
Riveria wanted to interview Ais herself but it seems she could escape from the spotlight, "So what do you want to know?"
Gareth immediately stepped out and sat in front and glared at her, "Why did you lie?"
Riveria looked straight into his eyes and instead of anger like he let on, there was only frustration within, "As much as I'd like to tell you the truth, there was the important context that would be missing so the only reasonable number I could give is Level 6 or 7 with a minimal blessing from Loki. You wouldn't have believed me if I said I'm suddenly stronger than all of you despite being a Level 1, would you?"
Everyone looked around to see everyone else's reaction and found that nobody could deny that. But despite her very short and incomplete explanation, the frustration in Gareth's eyes left him and a smile emerged on his face, "That's true. But I guess that would mean I've lost our bet."
Riveria was a bit surprised but immediately thought that this is his normal reaction, "Drinks are on you then." Although they bickered most of the time, Riveria feels much closer to Gareth than Finn. And seeing how he's the most accepting one with her rather bland explanation even if he's the most frustrated one, she couldn't help but smile too.
"Do you mind telling us what this missing context is?" Finn pushed the conversation forward. When he heard that Denatus was not going well despite defeating the last Great Quest and the Corrupted Spirit, he guessed there was something else much worse lurking within the depths of the Dungeon and he needed more information of any kind now to draw out even a bit of conclusion.
"Sadly, even if I explained it, it'd be hard for you to understand. After all, everyone's memories here are sealed."
"...Sealed?"
Riveria nodded but before she could continue, Ais started muttering names, "Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihouin, Serafall Leviathan, Sona Sitri, Medusa, Kuroka Toujou, Shirone Toujo, and Aika Kiryuu."
Riveria turned to her and asked, "The seal was lifted?"
"When I was fighting the Black Dragon. I don't know how it happened but I just suddenly recalled them."
Finn burrowed his brows and murmured, "Kisuke Urahara? You mean that man that came with Riveria?"
But before Riveria could give an answer, an uninvited guest interrupted them, "Did someone call for me~?"
Since everyone was too focused on the conversation, Kisuke who appeared out of nowhere almost gave them a heart attack and some even hurriedly pulled out their weapons.
"Woah~ Chill. I heard my name so I came." Kisuke raised both of his hands in surrender.
Finn looked around and could see from everyone's expression that not one of them was able to tell that he was already behind them, 'If Riveria lied about her abilities, chances are he did too and he's probably on the same level as that mysterious Serafall.'
Riveria knew that it wouldn't end well if Kisuke started taunting them again so she immediately asked, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in the Denatus?"
"I planned to, but I don't really want to be grilled alone. I feel like I'd lose my marbles just talking to those prideful shitheads that can't accept that someone is better than them."
Riveria chuckled at him since she could clearly feel his unenthusiasm, "Are you talking about Hermes?"
Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I just hate the know-it-all people who can't accept it when they are wrong. Anyways, you're coming with me."
"Can I refuse?"
"Nope~!"
While Riveria was sighing in defeat, Kisuke's eyes inadvertently landed on Ais, who in turn was also staring at him intently, "I'm glad to see that you're doing well, Wallenstein-san."
Ais was startled that she was unexpectedly addressed. She thought for sure that he was going to ignore her, "It's thanks to you. Thank you."
"I only gave you a choice. It was up to you where your feet would take you. As long as you don't regret it, I could say that I fulfilled my promise to... well, could you call her your mother?"
Without hesitation, Ais answered, "She was my mother."
"I see. That's great then." Kisuke then grabbed the hand of the grumbling Riveria and was about to leave when he suddenly recalled something and turned back, "Ah, Line-san. Get ready. You'll be our backup."
"Y-yes!"
AN(June 29, 2023): It's has been a while so it's time to shamelessly plug my pat reon again~!
If you like my work, you can support me in "pat reon. com / goyya00" and access up to 110 advance chapters.
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Editors:
28th00: I wonder if Riveria realizes how that looked in front of her familia? She’s casually holding hands, with a smile on her face, with a man. Her, not just an elf, but a Royal High Elf. How lewd~!