---o---
"So, this is... another world?"
A girl with short, bluish-black hair stood on a bustling street, her expression one of slight wonder.
Skyscrapers reached for the heavens, and the streets below were a river of traffic.
The bustling crowd flowed like a tide, their faces illuminated by the dazzling, almost hypnotic neon lights. It felt both real and illusory.
Everything was so similar to the hometown she remembered.
Honestly, if someone hadn't told her this was another world, Seele would have thought she was still in her own.
"It feels... really similar to our world," a girl with long, purplish-black hair said, also marveling at her surroundings. She was standing beside Seele, wearing an exquisite hat that had been gifted to her after a chat with Lord Otto.
She had expected the difference between this world and her own to be much greater.
"Worlds are divided into different types," the young man explained, naturally taking Seele's small hand as he shared the experiences from his travels and experiments.
Since he had already brought Sirin and Ana to the world of God-Slayers, bringing too many other girls would easily trigger a massive scene.
Therefore, from the very beginning, he only planned to bring Seele, Bronya, and Mei here.
These three girls were old acquaintances and good friends of Sirin's. If anything happened, Sirin would likely turn a blind eye.
Moreover, all three were Herrschers, placing them within Ana's tolerance range.
But—
After finishing her training with Welt, Bronya had begun training under the two great scientific minds, Lobster Head and Seaweed Head (Einstein and Tesla).
Perhaps because she wasn't a natural Herrscher candidate and had an inherent disadvantage compared to Seele and the others, she was now frantically cramming, immersing herself in the oceans of physics and Honkai studies. It would likely be a long time before she emerged.
For the Herrscher of Reason, knowledge was far more important than a single Authority.
Thus, Li Zihan didn't disturb her. He simply read some knowledge from the Previous Era out of the Herrscher Core within him and passed it to the people at Anti-Entropy to give to Bronya.
Consequently, Li Zihan had to bring Seele and the Rice Herrscher—ahem, the Herrscher of Thunder, to the God-Slayer world first to grind some mobs.
Yes, in Li Zihan's eyes, the Heretical Gods of this world—aside from the ridiculously overpowered ones like Rama—were nothing more than high-level mobs if they didn't revert to their original mythological forms.
"There are worlds of sword and sorcery, technologically advanced future worlds, worlds of cultivation and immortality, worlds based on mythology... Different worlds have different foundations," Li Zihan said, holding Seele's hand.
"The fundamental framework of this world isn't all that different from the Honkai world."
Miss Mei, who had agreed to forgive Li Zihan and Seele's relationship when he made his geis, glanced out of the corner of her eye at the two of them holding hands before quickly looking away.
What I don't know can't hurt me.
The Rice Cooker, who had once managed to ignore the relationships between Seele, Bronya, Sirin, and a certain someone, reached up and adjusted the blue-green hat Lord Otto had given her, choosing to continue her ignorance.
As long as Zihan and I are the ones walking down the aisle in the end, they'll all just be bridesmaids, won't they?
Miss Mei did not advocate for early marriage and childbirth.
But—
When she saw a whole crowd of girls visiting a certain someone when he was critically ill, Miss Mei's original desire for a late marriage was clearly shaken.
She wasn't blind.
How could she not understand what those girls were thinking?
A sense of crisis quickly rose in her heart.
Li Zihan had explicitly said he would marry her.
As long as the wedding ceremony was successfully held, the final status of those other girls would only be "bridesmaids who once had an ambiguous relationship with the groom."
At that time, she could fully declare that she was the mistress of the new world.
The other girls would be nothing more than defeated dogs.
But—
What if something happened between Zihan and those girls?
A wedding, which was basically a foregone conclusion, could still be ruined.
Feeling like a whole group of people were trying to put a green hat on her head, Miss Mei's mindset naturally changed.
She had to do something.
If she continued to let things slide without making any preparations, she might very well be the one standing at the wedding as a bridesmaid!
Before coming here, Mei recalled that Li Zihan's age fluctuated between 14, 19, and 33. A glint flickered in her lavender eyes.
A guy who lived for 19 years in his first life and 14 in his second... there's no way he should be considered 14 years old, right?
He should be counted as nineteen at the minimum, which is older than the legal age for marriage in the Far East.
Miss Mei herself was nearly seventeen, older than the minimum marriage age of sixteen for women in the Far East. She looked at the handsome face of the young man beside her, lost in thought.
The male is over eighteen, and the female is over sixteen. We already meet the conditions for applying for marriage, don't we?
Once Zihan finishes this adventure, I should ask Father to start presiding over the wedding affairs.
Driven by her sense of crisis, Miss Mei took the initiative and took hold of the young man's other free hand, having made her decision.
Later, when I find a moment alone with him, I'll test his thoughts on getting engaged or married soon.
As long as Zihan is interested, we'll get engaged right away, then find an auspicious day and get married directly.
And then—
For both the engagement ceremony and the wedding, she would invite all the girls who had visited Li Zihan when he was injured to be her bridesmaids or flower girls!
The girl, who had always presented a gentle demeanor, imagined the scene at her wedding: a row of girls in bridesmaid dresses, while she alone wore the bridal gown. A smile graced her face.
"Big Brother, what are we going to do next?"
The girl with azure eyes, which seemed to hold a hint of red in their depths, didn't seem to notice Miss Mei's expression. She simply shook the young man's hand and asked.
"Summon this world's specialty—Heretical Gods—and then use them as sacrifices to activate a divine artifact and complete the rebirth ritual."
The young man, who already held the Gorgoneion, an artifact capable of summoning a certain Queen of the Underworld, spoke cheerfully.
"Once you've all completed the rebirth ritual and I've obtained the Authority I want, we'll go back—"
Without any warning, Li Zihan stopped talking.
As if an electric current passed through him, his body began to heat up.
His blood began to boil.
His senses grew sharper.
His muscles activated.
This was not the first time Li Zihan had felt this sensation.
His body had reacted the same way when he met Lugh and Susanoo.
This was the reaction of a God-Slayer encountering a god.
And then—
A man like the sun itself appeared in the young man's field of vision.
"Long time no see, my beloved son."
The man, who could be called Prometheus, or who could be called Surya, spoke to the young man.
---o---
Author's Note:
PS: I just remembered, if you use the divine artifact, the Hera Stone Pillar, to summon a god, shouldn't the probability of summoning Hera be higher than that of summoning Perseus?
Falling into deep thought.