"Building a new Demon King's Castle is no big deal."
As Eriri finished speaking, she waved her hand toward the ruins of the old Demon King's Castle. Instantly, a mysterious power enveloped the entire area.
The ground began to tremble, and in the next moment, black structures started to form out of thin air, rising upward at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In less than half a minute, a massive black fortress, even grander and more majestic than the original Demon King's Castle, stood tall where the ruins once were.
Moreover, a barrier surrounded the castle—an immensely powerful defensive enchantment, far stronger than the one that had protected the previous castle.
"Megumin, consider this your reward for destroying the Demon King's Castle. I've granted you control over the castle's defensive barrier. From now on, you can play with it however you like."
Everyone stared in shock at the sight of the newly constructed black castle—everyone except Darkness and a few others who already knew the true extent of Eriri's power.
Even Megumin and Iris were left completely speechless.
"Eriri-sama… are you a goddess?" Iris asked with sparkling eyes, her face filled with awe and excitement.
Megumin was equally thrilled, though she didn't say anything. Her thoughts were clearly the same as Iris's—only a god could possibly perform such a miracle as creating something from nothing.
"You guessed wrong~ I'm not a goddess. But, there is a goddess in our party."
Eriri smiled and playfully pinched Iris's cheek.
"Eh? You mean…?"
Iris froze for a moment, then instinctively turned her gaze toward Eris. Megumin also looked at her curiously.
Feeling their eyes on her, Eris scratched her cheek awkwardly, smiling with mild embarrassment.
"That's right," Eriri said with a teasing smile. "Eris here is the Goddess Eris—the true form of the Goddess of Fortune worshiped by the Church of Eris."
Now that her identity was out, Eris knew there was no point in hiding it anymore. She dispelled her disguise as the thief "Chris" and revealed her divine form—her gentle aura radiating the unmistakable presence of a true goddess.
Dressed in her white feathered robes, Eris smiled warmly as she lifted her hand in greeting.
"Iris, Megumin—it's nice to properly meet you. I'm Eris~"
The moment she appeared in her true form, everyone around her instantly believed Eriri's words.
Iris and Megumin were stunned beyond words, and the same was true for the adventurers nearby—especially those who weren't reincarnators.
Most reincarnators from Japan had already seen goddesses before, having been sent to this world by Aqua. So while seeing another goddess was surprising, it wasn't enough to leave them speechless.
However, for the natives of this world—especially the devout followers of the Eris Church—seeing their deity appear before them in person was an unfathomable miracle.
Of course, this reaction excluded members of the Axis Church. But none of the adventurers present were Axis cultists; every single one of them was a follower of the Eris Church.
For a long moment, everyone simply stood frozen. Then, one by one, the native adventurers dropped to their knees, their faces filled with reverence.
"Lady Eris… You're truly the Goddess Eris…"
Megumin, on the other hand, circled around Eris curiously, examining her from head to toe with the inquisitiveness of a child. She showed no reverence at all—after all, she wasn't a believer of the Eris Church.
Iris, however, was different. As the princess of the Belzerg Kingdom, whose state religion was the Church of Eris, she was naturally a devout believer—just like Darkness.
Thus, she too was about to kneel and offer her worship when Eris hurriedly stopped her.
"Iris, there's no need for that. We're teammates now! Besides, compared to Eriri, I'm hardly worth bowing to~"
At those words, Iris blinked in confusion and turned her astonished gaze toward Eriri.
"Hm, I suppose it's about time I tell you a few things. But this isn't the best place to talk—let's continue the conversation inside the new Demon King's Castle."
With a snap of her fingers, Eriri and the others vanished instantly, leaving behind the kneeling native adventurers and a few bewildered reincarnators.
...
In the grand audience hall of the Demon King's Castle, Eriri sat elegantly on the magnificent throne, while Iris and the others gathered casually around her.
It had been over half an hour since Eriri brought everyone into the castle.
During that time, she had revealed her true identity and explained everything about the myriad realms across the multiverse to Megumin and Iris.
Eris also took the opportunity to share some details about the heavens and the underworld, greatly expanding Megumin and Iris's understanding of the world beyond.
Then suddenly, Megumin's eyes lit up with curiosity as she turned to Eris.
"Eris, since you're really a goddess, then that idiot back in Axel—the one from that weird Axis Church—is also a goddess, right? The one their cult worships?"
"That's right," Eris nodded with a small smile. "Aqua-senpai is indeed the Goddess worshiped by the Axis Church."
"So the heavens actually have such a dumb goddess!" Megumin said with an exasperated sigh, recalling the absurd scenes she had witnessed in Axel a few days ago. She couldn't help but glance at Eris with pity in her eyes.
"Um… Miss Megumin, why are you looking at me like that?" Eris asked nervously. "I mean, yes, Aqua-senpai is a bit… well… a bit…"
Eris trailed off mid-sentence, unable to find a polite way to describe Aqua's behavior, and quickly decided to change the subject.
"But anyway, that's not Heaven's fault!"
"Sure, sure," Megumin replied dismissively. "Let's just hope Heaven doesn't produce any more weird goddesses like her."
Seeing Megumin's nonchalant tone, Eris could only smile awkwardly, at a complete loss for words to defend her divine realm.
At that moment, Darkness—who had been quietly observing their exchange—suddenly joined the conversation.
"Speaking of goddesses, Megumin, isn't Chomusuke in your arms technically one as well?"
"Oh, right!" Megumin said in realization. "Wolbach called herself the Dark Goddess of Sloth and Violence, didn't she? So is she a goddess from Heaven too?"
She lifted Chomusuke up by her front legs and held her in the air, studying her tiny feline body with her crimson eyes.
Chomusuke didn't resist at all, simply hanging limply as Megumin examined her.
"I can sense a divine presence from her," Eris said thoughtfully, her eyes narrowing in curiosity. "But I've never seen her in Heaven."
Although she was in charge of this world, that didn't mean she knew everything that existed within it.
"How strange," Eriri mused. "Is it possible that not all goddesses from Heaven know each other?"
"That's impossible," Eris replied firmly. "Every goddess from Heaven shares a divine connection. If Wolbach isn't known to us, then there's only one explanation—she's a native deity, born from this world itself."
"I see~ Well, it doesn't matter either way," Megumin said casually, hugging Chomusuke tightly again. "Whether she's a goddess from Heaven or a local one, she's my familiar now."
...
Eriri and the others didn't leave the new Demon King's Castle right away. Instead, they decided to stay and relax for a while.
After lunch, Megumin took Lilian and Iris to explore the massive new castle.
By the end of the afternoon, they had already familiarized themselves with most of its structure.
Megumin absolutely loved the new fortress—it was far cooler than the old one.
"This castle is amazing! It's like it was custom-built just for me! From now on, this will be my base for world domination!" she declared proudly from the Demon King's throne, her face full of excitement.
"Megumin, how are you planning to recruit your Demon King's Army?" Lilian asked, her chuunibyou spirit flaring as she played along. "Are you going to rally the remaining demons?"
"No, no! Those demons are way too ugly. They're not worthy of being part of my Demon King's Army!"
"Megumin, maybe we shouldn't form a Demon King's Army at all…" Iris said hesitantly, breaking character from their chuunibyou game with Lilian.
"Hmph, as expected of my loyal officer! You're right, Iris," Megumin declared proudly. "A true Demon King doesn't need an army! As long as I have my Explosion Magic, conquering the world will be a piece of cake!"
Standing atop the throne, she raised her staff high, her crimson eyes glowing brightly.
At that moment, Ilina entered the grand hall and called out to the trio.
"Lilian, Megumin, Iris—time for dinner!"
The three froze mid-scene, exchanged quick glances, and then shouted in unison:
"Coming!"
...
That night, on a mountain overlooking the Crimson Demon Village, a group of male Crimson Demons gathered sneakily together.
In front of them stood a giant telescope aimed toward the direction of the Demon King's Castle.
One of the men stepped forward, placing his eye against the telescope to take a look.
However, what appeared in his vision was a completely opaque barrier—he couldn't see a single thing inside.
"Bad news! The telescope's view is being blocked by the Demon King Castle's defense barrier! We can't see what's happening inside anymore!" he shouted in panic.
"No way! Let me see!" another man barked, shoving him aside to look for himself.
Moments later, his horrified cry echoed across the mountaintop as well.
Soon after, every Crimson Demon present took turns peering into the telescope—only to meet the same result. Each of them screamed in frustration one after another.
Before long, word spread throughout the entire Crimson Demon Village: the telescope could no longer see into the Demon King's Castle.
Led by their village chief, a large crowd of Crimson Demons teleported to the mountain to inspect the situation personally.
After all, this telescope was one of the village's most profitable attractions—it was a major tourist site where visitors paid to peek into the Demon King's Castle (especially the "Demon King's daughter's private quarters"), bringing in massive revenue.
So naturally, they couldn't afford to let this business dry up.
However, despite countless adjustments and magical recalibrations, the barrier remained impenetrable. No matter what they tried, the telescope could not bypass it.
In the end, the Crimson Demons had no choice but to temporarily abandon their efforts, planning to revisit the issue later.
At that moment, the Crimson Demon Village still had no idea what had happened to the Demon King's Castle.
Although the adventurers who had been teleported with Eriri had already spread word of the Demon King's defeat across the capital, that news hadn't yet reached the village. It would likely take another day for them to find out.
...
The next morning, after finishing breakfast in the new Demon King's Castle, Eriri and her group departed, beginning their journey to explore the world.
It had now been seven days since Eriri and her companions had arrived in this world. In just a few more days, Eriri planned to return to the Saekano world with Ilina and Lilian.
With limited time left, Eriri wanted to make sure Iris could enjoy the world as much as possible before they left.
Of course, their departure didn't mean she would never return. There would always be opportunities to bring Iris back to visit new places.
In fact, before touring this world again, Iris might first spend some time traveling through other worlds.
Eriri planned to bring both Iris and Megumin back with her to the Saekano world—to introduce them to her family and friends.
No doubt, their first trip to a modern world would be quite an adventure in itself.
As Eriri drove a six-seater off-road vehicle down a wide rural road with Iris and the others, the news of the Demon King's defeat had already spread across the entire world.
Eriri and her party's names were now known far and wide.
The faithful followers of the Church of Eris became even more devout after learning that their beloved Goddess Eris had personally descended to join the hero's party.
Naturally, the Axis Church—eternal rivals of the Eris Church—were furious about this. Their jealousy and resentment soon led to more frequent harassment of Eris's believers across the continent.
—
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