The people gathered here were among the absolute elite of Little Garden.
Most of them were either four-digit or three-digit powerhouses—leaders of major pantheons and influential factions.
And yet, the moment Izumi arrived, he casually greeted every single one of them with cheerful familiarity.
No arrogance.
No overwhelming pressure.
No "supreme being" attitude whatsoever.
Which only made everyone even more confused.
A One-Digit being… is this approachable?
They genuinely felt like they had just witnessed something unbelievable.
The instant Izumi entered Little Garden, they had already learned who he was.
And because of that, everyone present had been extremely tense.
After all, if someone of his level got annoyed for even a moment…
Little Garden itself might cease to exist.
Once the introductions were over, Izumi didn't waste time with formalities.
He went straight to the point.
"I want Little Garden."
The room immediately filled with bitter smiles.
Of course they knew.
In fact, one of the One-Digit beings had already informed them ahead of time.
That was why they had mentally prepared themselves before Izumi ever arrived.
"Lord Hongjun already told us about it."
"There is no issue."
The one who spoke was a young man carrying a sword at his waist.
One of the Three Pure Ones—
Tongtian Jiaozhu.
Izumi nodded after hearing that.
"If that's the case, then this becomes simple."
As he spoke, he prepared to take out a World Fusion Card.
Since nobody objected—
then naturally, it was time to get to work.
But just as he was about to activate it, Izumi suddenly frowned.
The card… wouldn't work.
"Hm?"
At that moment, a supreme force descended upon the space.
Izumi immediately recognized it.
"Hongjun."
That's right.
The one who had appeared was none other than Hongjun Daozu himself.
His voice echoed directly inside Izumi's mind.
"This world cannot be fused through external means."
"The card in your hand is useless here."
"So there is no need to rush."
"When the time comes… after you've fused the other worlds…"
"Little Garden will naturally be drawn toward your world on its own."
"For now, simply take Little Garden's core with you."
Izumi blinked.
"…So I came here for nothing?"
That felt a little awkward.
After grumbling internally for a moment, he simply sighed and nodded.
"If that's how it works…"
"Then I'll wait."
"Little Garden has already detected the trajectory of my world anyway."
"So it's not really a problem."
With that, he put the World Fusion Card away.
Now that he understood the situation, there wasn't much else to say.
After chatting with the group for a while longer, Izumi suddenly remembered something and turned toward the Halloween Queen.
"If you're interested, come visit my world sometime."
"There's someone there with abilities similar to yours."
"Oh—and bring Scáthach along if possible."
The Halloween Queen raised an eyebrow.
"Someone with powers similar to mine?"
"The Authority of Boundaries?"
Her most famous ability was precisely that—
control over boundaries.
Though to be precise, her mastery far surpassed Yukari Yakumo's.
Izumi's real intention was obvious:
he wanted Yukari to learn from her.
Maybe the gap hag could finally become even stronger.
Izumi nodded.
"That's right."
"The ability to manipulate all boundaries."
Now the Halloween Queen was genuinely interested.
"I see…"
"How intriguing."
"I'll visit."
Izumi chuckled and handed her an invitation card.
Not just her, either.
He distributed invitation cards to everyone present.
After all—
if they existed within the same multiversal framework, then they were basically neighbors.
Friends, even.
So Izumi generously invited all of them to visit his world whenever they liked.
Who knew?
They might even encounter alternate versions of themselves there.
Like certain "weekly publication protagonists."
Honestly, that sounded hilarious.
After remaining there for a while longer, Izumi finally left.
Once he was gone, the group stared silently at the invitation cards in their hands.
The entire multiverse was about to change.
A successor had appeared.
And once all worlds were unified…
that man would likely ascend even further.
Perhaps even leave this multiversal layer entirely.
A new era was approaching.
Thinking about it made everyone sigh.
Since resistance was impossible, they could only accept reality.
Truthfully, none of them liked the idea of suddenly having another supreme existence above them.
But they had no choice.
Even the One-Digit beings backing Little Garden supported Izumi.
What else could they possibly say?
Meanwhile, the Halloween Queen was visibly interested in Izumi's world.
She fully intended to visit.
As one of Little Garden's Three Problem Children, she couldn't care less about politics or hierarchy.
As long as something entertained her, that was enough.
...
Some time later—
Izumi appeared once again.
This time, he arrived in the Lower Levels of Little Garden.
More specifically—
above the community where Black Rabbit and the others resided.
And at that very moment, something rather amusing was happening.
A tiny vampire girl capable of altering her size freely floated quietly in midair while observing the commotion below.
The instant Izumi spotted her, a grin spread across his face.
Without making a sound, he slipped behind her.
Then—
he spoke.
"Well, well… what do we have here?"
"A petite vampire loli that can grow bigger or smaller at will."
"If I take her home, she's probably the kind who'd even help me make babies."
"And she's ridiculously powerful too."
"Perfect maid material."
The sudden voice instantly made the vampire girl tense up in alarm.