In a space of pure white light.
Invisible air currents swirled, forming slowly rotating vortices.
Then, figures emerged one after another from the vortex.
Naturally, these were Luo Shu and the others returning to the Divine Kingdom.
Gazing at the familiar expanse before him, Luo Shu took a deep breath, feeling more relaxed than ever before.
Only here was Luo Shu truly safe, truly at ease.
"So this is your Divine Kingdom?"
Visiting for the first time, Natsuki Minamiya gazed at the endless expanse of empty space before her and instinctively tightened her grip on the fan in her hand, muttering:
"Completely different from what I imagined."
"And what exactly did you imagine?" Luo Shu asked with an amused smile.
Hearing this, Natsuki turned her head away, unwilling to explain.
Could she admit she'd pictured the Divine Kingdom as a collection of gothic castles straight out of fairy tales?
She'd definitely be laughed at by Luo Shu if she said that.
As Natsuki turned away, Mukuro Hoshimiya also materialised in the Divine Kingdom space with a soft thud as she landed on the ground.
"Eep~" Mukuro let out a startled cry. Still unaccustomed to the gravity, she stumbled and nearly fell before Luo Shu and Lacus quickly reached out to steady her.
"Be careful, Mukuro."
Hearing their concerned voices, Mukuro gripped Luo Shu and Lacus's hands to regain her balance before curiously surveying their surroundings.
"Is this the place where we'll make the contract?"
As she looked around, all she could see was an endless expanse of white void.
Her eyes swept the area before lifting upwards, where she spotted clusters of blue stars twinkling against the blank white sky:
"Oh? There are stars here, too?"
Hearing this, Natsuki also looked up curiously at the sky.
Above them, hundreds of stars shimmered in the heavens, scattering pinpricks of light across the firmament.
Just as the group gazed upwards, Luo Shu casually explained:
"Those stars are all fake. In essence, they're actually Abyss Artefacts sealed and suppressed within a special space, merely appearing as stars floating above our heads."
In fact, no matter where you were in the Divine Kingdom, looking up would reveal these stars.
It seemed that a special sealed space existed as an independent state within the Divine Kingdom.
Hearing this, Lacus suddenly realised: "So that's where it is."
The sealed space suppressing the Abyss Artefacts wasn't somewhere Lacus had never visited.
However, apart from the sealed space and the private space Luo Shu provided her, Lacus rarely had contact with other areas of the Divine Kingdom.
Clearly, where they stood now was an unknown, unexplored part of the Divine Kingdom.
The Divine Kingdom within the system had a structure resembling a layered cake, with tier upon tier of various spaces.
The space Luo Shu first entered, now reserved for Familia's private use, existed within the upper layers of the Divine Kingdom.
As for which specific layer, even Luo Shu couldn't determine, only vaguely sensing it was within the first five.
And, according to Luo Shu's estimation, the total number of spatial layers in the Divine Kingdom clearly exceeded three digits.
Somehow, Luo Shu found himself inexplicably fond of these overlapping spaces, as if the Divine Kingdom was meant to be this way.
"It seems that further down would be that place, right?" Lacus supported Mukuro Hoshimiya as she spoke, her tone carrying a hint of emotion.
To this, Luo Shu merely narrowed his eyes before replying:
"More or less."
He then added:
"Kurumi should be down there right now."
Luo Shu turned to look at Natsuki Minamiya and said:
"We should get going."
Natsuki Minamiya nodded, then followed Luo Shu's lead alongside Lacus and Mukuro Hoshimiya.
As they progressed, the group came upon an ancient, heavy wooden door with indistinct patterns on its surface, resembling a boundary line.
Seeing this door again, Luo Shu could vaguely make out the shape of the Kabbalah Tree of Life from the blurred patterns.
Truthfully, he harboured some private doubts, wondering if similar things might be sealed within other spaces of the Divine Kingdom.
But due to his currently insufficient control over the Divine Kingdom, he couldn't confirm this, keeping it as mere speculation buried in his heart.
Unlike Luo Shu, seeing this door for the first time, Lacus couldn't help but murmur:
"So this is where that thing you mentioned is stored?"
The so-called "that thing" referred to the Almighty God Class.
Had Luo Shu not personally explained it with Kurumi Tokisaki as corroboration, Lacus would never have imagined that even the concept of Almighty God could be an attainable Class.
Most crucially, this Class was actually being suppressed and sealed within Luo Shu's Divine Kingdom.
And the true nature of Spirits turned out to be fragmented aspects of Divine Authority.
The reason Spirits could become Demigods immediately upon joining the Familia was precisely because of their inherently lofty essence.
Moreover, even being Demigods wasn't the endpoint for Spirits.
In theory, all ten Spirits derived from the Almighty God Class had the potential to become Angels.
This revelation was so staggering that after learning of it, Lacus had specifically asked Luo Shu to use the Demon Heart to hypnotise her with a suggestion, making her forget this information until she entered the Divine Kingdom again.
But even so, Lacus still referred to it as 'that' when mentioning the Almighty God Class here, fearing that the slightest slip could lead to a leak of information—even though everyone present was either Familia or quasi-Familia.
"This is the place."
Only after Luo Shu gave his confirmation did Lacus's breathing quicken slightly:
"So, before attempting the space channel, we need to ensure Mukuro masters the power of 'that'?"
It had already been decided that Kurumi Tokisaki and Natsuki Minamiya would attempt to establish the channel with Ania's assistance.
During this process, there was an additional safeguard: having Mukuro Hoshimiya sign the contract within the space where the Almighty God Class was stored, thereby reaching Demigod as one of the safety measures for the attempt.
After all, Mukuro's ability as the Master of Seal and Unlock was incredibly overpowered. If the channel construction failed, this ability could effectively resolve the issue.
For this reason, Luo Shu and Lacus had Tabane Shinonono use the coordinates left by Natsuki Minamiya to continue acting as an anchor point within the Hidden Management Department in Copernicus, while they brought Mukuro Hoshimiya here.
"Mukuro." Luo Shu turned to her with a gentle smile. "Nervous?"
Hearing this, Mukuro gripped Lacus's hand with one hand and Luo Shu's with the other, then shook her head slightly.
"As long as Big Brother and Big Sister are here, Muku isn't nervous."
"That's good." Luo Shu chuckled before turning back and pushing open the door.
As the door swung open, the dim twilight desert stretched before them, and in the distant horizon, a towering tree of light pierced the heavens, filling everyone's vision.
—That was the manifestation of the Almighty God Class, deep within the Divine Kingdom, taking the form of the Kabbalah Tree.
At the sight, Luo Shu took a deep breath and handed the prepared contract to Mukuro Hoshimiya.
"Let's begin."
As Luo Shu's words faded, Mukuro reached out and grasped the light-brown contract.
In an instant.
A familiar chime echoed in Luo Shu's ears.
[Ding—]