To the gods, the destruction of the world was of no particular consequence.
Some might grieve. But even that grief would carry no real weight.
To call it merely the death of a cherished pet would, of course, be an understatement. The sorrow would run deeper than that.
But no deeper than a certain point.
And beyond that — there would always be those who had simply been waiting for the world to end. Those who, when every last effort finally collapsed into nothing, would smile a bitter, self-satisfied smile and say, See? I always knew it would come to this. Or those who felt nothing in particular at all — who might sigh, reflect for a moment, and then move on.
That was the nature of the gods.
And so — Baldr had wanted to confirm it for himself. He was the God of Light, and he knew that the [Appointed Hour] was drawing near. Whatever else might be said, he had needed, more than anything, to lay his own eyes upon the [Hero] the city had confirmed — to see with absolute certainty what manner of existence that person truly was.
Perhaps it would set his heart at ease, even a little.
With that thought, Baldr turned his gaze toward the window — toward the north.
Once, long ago, he had watched as the mightiest warriors of their age — those who had slain the sovereign of the seas — set out in high spirits toward the distant end of that far-off wasteland.
And never returned.
That had been a moment the gods had waited a thousand years to see.
And now.
How many years had passed since then? Could a new [Hero] truly have grown strong enough in so short a time? Was that span of years really sufficient?
He knew, of course, that all of it was fate. But Baldr was worried all the same.
— ◇ —
"We're going into the sea?!"
After the sun had set.
In the dormitory rooms the Academic District had arranged for them, both Lefiya and Haruhime were staring at him with identical expressions of bewilderment.
Isagi just shrugged.
Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure what to make of it either. But they were already here — and picking up [Underwater Combat] as a development ability wasn't a bad deal at all.
He had already seen firsthand what a hopeless landlubber looked like, after all — Ais being the prime example. Back when the Familia used to vacation on those deserted islands, the other girls had happily rowed out to sea, fishing and swimming to their hearts' content.
Ais had stood on the beach the entire time, not daring to go near the water even once.
There was another reason, too.
Isagi was frankly running out of development abilities to choose from. If he leveled up again, the only remaining option might literally be [Misfortune].
He had actually been prepared to pick that one.
He'd even wondered, idly — if he did choose [Misfortune], would the Dungeon transform into something like what he'd experienced in the ancient era? Adapting its tactics constantly, piling on new challenges at every turn, making his life progressively more difficult?
Honestly, that sounded kind of fun.
But if there was a way to delay that choice a little longer, he was happy to take it. The main reason he was leaning toward [Underwater Combat] was that he'd need to tackle the Great Waterfall region spanning Floors 25 through 27 eventually, and having it would make that considerably smoother.
They ate as they talked, trading idle bits of conversation.
Isagi relayed the full contents of his conversation with God Baldr. They still didn't have much to go on — the god had only said that something had been discovered on the seafloor: a ruin called the "Dragon Palace," and he wanted Isagi to go in and investigate.
Can I come too?
Haruhime bit her lip, looking at him with a quietly hopeful expression. She clearly wanted to join.
"Sure," Isagi said.
Adventurers weren't children. If you had the resolve, the only way to grow was to throw yourself into the experience. Being sheltered from everything only meant you'd never be able to stand on your own — and Haruhime herself had no desire to be that kind of person.
Isagi respected that.
"Alright! I'll do my best!!"
She really does remind me of how Lefiya used to be.
The Elf girl seemed to feel it too. A faint blush crept across her cheeks, as though she'd caught herself thinking the same thing — and she quietly squared her own shoulders, silently rallying herself.
From a wide-eyed newcomer trailing after the boy, to a seasoned adventurer who could hold her own.
Leftiya was a senior now. That meant it was her turn to look after and protect others — and that was exactly what she had always wanted.
She thought back to what had happened when they first returned to the Academic District earlier that day.
When her old classmates heard she was already a Lv.1 first-tier adventurer — the sheer disbelief, followed immediately by that overwhelming, enthusiastic uproar — had left Lefiya feeling faintly dizzy.
The reason they were eating in the dormitory right now was precisely because they had just caused a massive scene in the cafeteria!!
Thank goodness she'd run fast enough...
Wait, no!!
Thank goodness she'd grabbed Isagi and run fast enough!!
Some of those girls had absolutely no shame whatsoever!!
Leftiya was too embarrassed to even say it out loud. Hmph.
Anyway — right!
"Isagi, come look at Saika!"
"What's wrong?"
"She's grown!"
Grown.
That was a considerable understatement. This wasn't just growing — this was starting to take on a humanoid form?!
— ◇ —
Isagi had not, in any way, been prepared for this.
Not even half a day had passed — and Saika had changed this dramatically.
Her body was roughly the same size as before, still that semi-translucent cherry-pink. But the silver radiance threading through her silhouette was far more pronounced now — sharper, almost cold, like the glint of a blade's edge.
And there, growing out of what had once been her soft, round, mushroom-cap bell — a pair of unmistakably human-like eyes, large and perfectly round.
They looked almost like a decal — uncanny in the most unsettling way imaginable, and yet somehow, inexplicably, adorable. It made absolutely no sense.
And more importantly.
The gently swaying tentacles that had hung beneath her before — they now looked, unmistakably, like tiny little hands. Each one distinct. You could clearly make out the minuscule fingers and palms.
Isagi stared.
How had she gone from utterly cute little yokai to full-on Lovecraftian horror in the span of half a day?!
Was this just how things worked in this world?
He refused to believe it had anything to do with his other Character Cards bleeding into her...
"Uu-huu-huu—"
Still making those completely nonsensical little sounds.
Saika had apparently eaten her fill, because she was drifting around the glass tank in total, blissful leisure.
Fine.
He'd deal with her later.
— ◇ —
The night passed quietly.
After a full, proper night's rest, the following morning arrived.
Isagi, Lefiya, and Haruhime made their preparations to begin the underwater operation.
No one from the Academic District would be accompanying them — they simply didn't have the manpower to spare. Up in the north, the Dragon Valley had run into trouble again: reportedly, multiple powerful Great Dragons had broken through their seals.
All of the genuinely capable teachers had followed Leon north to deal with this latest Dragon Visit incident. The Academic District had also sent a request to the city for reinforcements, and both the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia had dispatched officers to assist.
"This commission is purely reconnaissance. Don't go too deep. If anything unexpected happens, retreat immediately — no matter what, stay alive..."
Before their departure, God Baldr went through everything in meticulous detail. Isagi and Lefiya listened carefully — both of them had already internalized exactly this kind of thinking.
"Understood!"
"I'll be in contact with you through the Eye Crystal at all times."
With that, the golden-haired god stood at the water's edge and carefully checked their diving equipment, one by one.
Going to the deep sea wasn't as simple as jumping into the water and swimming down.
An adventurer's body was considerably more durable than an ordinary person's — but even so, there were limits. Breathing, at the very minimum, was still a necessity.
As a point of interest — possessing the [Underwater Combat] development ability apparently allowed one to sustain activity underwater for extended periods on only a minimal amount of oxygen. Tiona had once claimed she could hold her breath underwater for several hours straight — though whether that was true or just bragging, Isagi had no idea.
Thinking about completely irrelevant things, Isagi pulled on the diving suit the Academic District had developed.
On the outside, it resembled armor plated with fish-scale panels — it looked heavy, but once on, it was surprisingly light. The interior was spacious, and there was even a faint current of "wind" circulating within.
It was powered by Magic Stones.
The oxygen inside was generated by magic — how exactly that worked, Isagi had no idea. But the suit functioned simultaneously as a diving suit and a self-contained oxygen supply.
"In theory, it can sustain you for a full twenty-four hours underwater — but to be safe, withdraw after roughly twelve hours."
"Beyond that, the suit has several other functions — discharge, smoke screen, and others — primarily designed to discourage smaller monsters. Sea monsters can be a real nuisance when they swarm."
"And then there's..."
God Baldr went through every detail without exception.
Isagi listened carefully to all of it, took notes, then gave a firm nod of acknowledgement — and together with the two girls at his side, leapt into the sea.
He immediately summoned Teardrop Big Bro. This was exactly the situation for it.
Leftiya was a mage. Haruhime had essentially no close-combat capability whatsoever. If Isagi tried to cover both of them alone, there were bound to be gaps — but with Teardrop Big Bro added to the equation, they were completely covered.
One to the left, one to the right — flanking the two girls on either side.
In silence.
Communicating through their Eye Crystals, the group began to swim downward, deeper into the water below.
Isagi found himself genuinely curious — just what, exactly, was this "Dragon Palace" supposed to be?
____
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