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Sorry, Miach. I'm taking those two kids, Hestia thought to herself.
In the original story, after the Hestia Familia won the War Game, they smoothly took over all of Apollo Familia's assets, including a massive headquarters.
Daphne and Cassandra were supposed to join Hestia Familia as well.
But that crushing debt of two hundred million valis scared everyone off.
This time, there was no debt. And with Hestia knowing the plot in advance, there was no way she'd let Daphne and Cassandra slip through her fingers.
Especially Cassandra. Her precognitive ability was far too valuable.
As for the War Game itself, everyone in the familia supported taking it on.
The final vote was unanimous. Zero objections.
"Anything else?" Alex asked.
"There is, actually." Hestia stood up with a grin. "At the last gods' meeting, I managed to get everyone titles."
The moment she said that, everyone perked up.
They were all curious about what kind of titles they'd received.
Seeing their eager looks, Hestia didn't bother teasing them. "We'll start with our captain. Alex, your title is 'Sword Forger.' Apparently someone from Loki Familia saw you use Unlimited Blade Works and reported it back to Loki. She's the one who came up with the name."
Alex gave a wry smile. He was clearly not thrilled with it.
Still, it didn't really matter. He could always earn a new title later.
Next came everyone else's.
Roxy's title was "Genius Mage."It was the same as her title back in the Mushoku world, probably something Hestia had helped push through.
Saeko Busujima was titled "Violent Sword Princess."
Merlin was "Magician of Flowers." Morgan was simply " Queen."
Artoria became "Holy Sword Wielder."
Erica was dubbed " Crimson Devil."
Liliyana earned "Sword Fairy."
Irisviel was "Pure White Witch."
Sera and Rigerit shared the title "Twin Stars."
Maiya Hisau was "Silent Bow."
Bell's title was "Little Rookie."
Sakura, Illya, and Shizuka were all still Level 1, so they didn't receive titles.
The same went for Shinobu Kocho and Miko Yotsuya from the chat group. They weren't in Orario and were also only Level 1.
After hearing all the titles, Alex was left speechless.
Almost everyone had basically received the same titles they already had in their original worlds. And then there was his. "Sword Forger." As awkward as it got. Honestly, even "Unlimited Blade Works" would have sounded better.
But what was done was done.
Aside from Alex, everyone else was very satisfied with their titles.
After the meeting ended, Hestia dragged Alex straight into her room for a private discussion.
"What else is there?" Alex asked, confused. "Shouldn't we be preparing for the War Game right now?"
"It's about Shinobu Kocho and Takatsuki Sen," Hestia said. "I want you to go to their world, help them solve their problems, and then have them move to Orario long-term, just like Saeko."
"You already talked to them?" Alex asked in surprise.
"Mhm. As long as their issues are resolved, they're willing to relocate to Orario," Hestia nodded.
"Shinobu's situation is easy. Just wipe out all the demons and kill Muzan Kibutsuji," Alex said. "But Takatsuki Sen's problem is harder. Ghouls eat humans. They're basically doomed to never coexist with humanity."
"Idiot." Hestia jumped up and smacked him on the head. "You watched the anime and still forgot something as important as artificial meat?"
She continued, "Solve the food issue for the ghouls, wipe out the Washuu clan, and doesn't that fix everything?"
"That only fixes Tokyo, though. Not the rest of the world," Alex couldn't help complaining.
What she described was basically the original ending.
"Why do you care about the whole world?" Hestia rolled her eyes. "Just solve the Tokyo ghoul problem that Takatsuki Sen cares about. If you really want to fix everything later, then once you're strong enough, you can create a new planet for ghouls. Or even an entire world just for them."
When had Alex started getting so fixated on details?
"Alright, fine," Alex said, nodding. "But the War Game is about to start. I'll handle their problems after it's over."
"That's fine. There's no rush," Hestia said. "I just wanted to give you a heads-up. For now, focus on earning points and buy a magic spell from the chat group shop."
"What spell?" Alex asked, intrigued.
"Dia Orpheus," Hestia said with a mysterious smile.
"The resurrection magic that Sage Fels uses?" Alex blurted out.
"Exactly. With that, when you go to Shinobu's world, you can revive her sister, Kanae Kocho, and bring her along too."
"So you'd already thought that far ahead," Alex said, genuinely impressed.
"Of course. Everything is for the familia," Hestia said with a proud smile.
After discussing things, they ultimately decided to head to the Godslayer world to earn points.
Killing a god gave five thousand points. The temptation was just too big.
That said, given Luo Hao's personality, she definitely wouldn't let Hestia steal points.
But Alex, as her little brother, was a different story.
There was about a week of preparation time before the War Game began.
Alex had no intention of wasting it. He planned to use that time to kill a few gods in the Godslayer world and push his level up again.
After fusing multiple forms of magic into divine power, he had already broken the Godslayers' curse energy limit.
If he killed a few more gods, his total divine power would definitely rise again.
…
After resting for the night, Alex sent a message to Luo Hao.
Alex: Sis, I want to come to your world.
Her reply came quickly.
Luo Hao: Going godslaying to earn points?
Alex didn't bother lying.
Alex: More or less. I solved the issues in Esdeath's world. There's a group of talented people there I want to bring to DanMachi's world, so I need points. Also, I broke the curse energy cap for Godslayers, and I want to see if killing another god will increase it further.
Luo Hao: You broke the curse energy limit?
Alex: Yeah.
Luo Hao: How?
Alex then explained the whole process of fusing different magical energies in the Akame ga Kill world.
Luo Hao was excited at first, but when she heard that Alex ultimately relied on Hestia's sacred flame to fuse everything into divine power, she fell silent.
She wanted to try it too.
But she didn't have a sacred flame.
Was she supposed to lower herself and beg Hestia for help?
Absolutely not.
With her pride, that was impossible.
When Alex didn't hear back for a while, he asked, "Sis? You still there?"
Luo Hao: Mm. Since you want to godslay, I'll give you a private quest.
[Group Member Luo Hao has issued a quest: Godslaying. Difficulty: 9 stars. Reward: 100 points.]
[Group Member Alex has accepted the quest.]
The next second, Alex left the DanMachi world again and headed for the Godslayer world.
What surprised him was that Luo Hao wasn't at Mount Lu in China. She was still in Europe, on Sardinia.
She was dressed in a white gown, barefoot, standing at the edge of the beach as the seawater washed over her delicate feet.
"Sis, why are you still here?" Alex asked in surprise.
"To help watch over the Seven Sisters Coven, of course," Luo Hao said with a smile, brushing her hair back behind her ear.
As she spoke, she noticed something new about Alex.
Compared to last time, he now gave off a sense of danger.
That overwhelming divine presence around him was practically overflowing.
Luo Hao couldn't help sighing. "In just a few months, you've gone from an ordinary person to someone who's surpassed me."
Alex was startled. For someone as proud as Luo Hao to admit that someone had surpassed her was practically unheard of.
"It's all thanks to your guidance, sis," Alex said with a grin, scratching his head.
Luo Hao nodded slightly, accepting the compliment, then changed the subject. "So, which god are you planning to kill?"
In the original story, only a few gods appeared. Right now, the only one whose location was certain was Sun Wukong, trapped in Japan.
Alex thought for a moment before answering. "I won't kill Sun Wukong. I'll leave him to you. I'm planning to go to Japan and gather a group of shrine maidens to perform a large-scale ritual to summon an unruly god."
"That works. I'll go with you and deal with that monkey while we're at it," Luo Hao said, nodding.
"Sis, you're forgetting the three conditions needed to break the Bimawen curse," Alex reminded her.
First, the manifestation of a dragon-serpent divinity.Second, a treasured blade that weakens 'forms.'Third, a shrine maiden with exorcism powers wielding that blade and using spiritual energy.
"..."
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