"So that's how it is..."
Levi whispered softly.
The previous members of the Astrea Familia were equivalent to having a shell of materialized magic power wrapped around the surface of their souls. Once this outer layer suffered large-scale damage, subsequently exposing the soul within, then Alise and the others would meet death just like other adventurers in the Lower World.
Now, having undergone the baptism of the Third Magic, the interiors of their manifested spirit bodies had finally been completed.
The so-called Incarnation naturally could not refer merely to the endowment of flesh and blood. Internal organs, bones and blood plasma, brain and spinal cord, and even nerves and cells. Under the scouring of massive amounts of magic power, they all turned from void to reality one after another, forming corresponding simulated structures.
In a certain aspect, the girls, composed entirely of magic power from head to toe, were already no different from true humans of the Lower World.
They could eat, they could sleep, and they could spontaneously produce magic power. Only... they could not conceive offspring.
Simulated organs were, after all, just simulated organs; they could imitate functions but could not truly achieve creation from nothing. Coincidentally, the Gods of the DanMachi world did not possess similar physiological structures either. Whether with Gods of the same race or with humans of the Lower World, they had no way to produce descendants.
When Levi treated Hephaestus's right face before, he had actually vaguely sensed the fact that for the Gods of this world, Divine Power was their essence. At that time, due to insufficient perspective and the lack of a suitable control group, although he had many conjectures in his mind, it was not until today that they were truly confirmed.
Obviously, whether it was Hestia, Hephaestus, or other Gods, in essence, they were actually advanced versions of Incarnated Heroic Spirits. It was just that the exterior and interior of the Astrea Familia crowd were composed of materialized magic power, whereas what constituted the Gods' shells was the higher-grade Divine Power.
Expanding along this direction, it was easy to conclude—the reason Gods would be sent back to Tenkai after actively or passively releasing Divine Power was that their physical bodies experienced fluctuations or damage, subsequently causing the internal soul to be exposed. Then, the Gods who shouldn't have appeared in the Lower World would be forcibly dragged back to Tenkai, just like Alise and the others.
However, the latter was due to the Reincarnation System, as for the former...
"It is the 'Divine Domain'~"
Seeing Levi fall into deep thought again halfway through his deduction, Hestia, sitting on the sofa with her cherry lips slightly curled, did not continue to be a riddler this time but directly gave the answer.
Hephaestus explained in more detail: "The relationship between Gods and the Divine Domain is very close. Under normal circumstances, there is no way to be separated for a long time."
As she spoke, she paused slightly. "Of course, this was in the past. In order to gain more freedom, 'we' Gods also made quite a few efforts. Long ago, everyone connected and fused the Divine Domains together, subsequently forming the current 'Tenkai'."
"Later, when humans and demi-humans were born, 'we' imitated the children of the Lower World and created the race known as 'Spirits' to carry our divided consciousness. About a thousand years ago, the Great Gods even researched a method to seal Divine Power and descend to the Lower World."
"Of course, you must have guessed the price," Hestia interjected. "Once Divine Power is released and we are sent back to Tenkai, we will be locked within the Divine Domain for a period of time. This is also the reason why no God has successfully descended to the Lower World a second time in a thousand years."
Levi listened, and thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind.
"In other words, as long as one obtains a true physical body, rather than the current aggregate of Divine Power, you can to the greatest extent ignore the rule of 'being forcibly sent back to Tenkai upon releasing Divine Power,' right?"
Seeing the two women nod in admission, he pondered for a moment before opening his mouth again: "I roughly understand the situation on the Gods' side. Then, what about the Dungeon? What is going on there?"
Hearing this, Hestia and Hephaestus looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison.
"Sorry, before descending to the Lower World, all Gods signed a contract." Hephaestus spread her hands, her words carrying a bit of helplessness. "Unless an adventurer can clear the entire Labyrinth, regarding intelligence on the Dungeon, we can only reveal the parts that the Lower World has already explored."
Seeing his lovers bound by the contract and only able to give extremely limited intelligence, Levi did not continue questioning. In fact, by this point, he had basically finished confirming the general situation of the DanMachi world.
Gods residing high in the heavens, seemingly powerful but not free.
'Humans' situated in the Lower World, with short lifespans but containing the unknown.
And monsters born in the Labyrinth, with magic stones as cores, mixed with disorder and order.
Levi definitely did not believe that these three had no relationship whatsoever. But what specific secrets existed between them...
The pale-gold haired boy sitting between Hestia and Hephaestus narrowed his eyes. In his previous life as an otaku, he had seen, if not a thousand, then eight hundred similar settings in anime and games.
Not to mention distant ones, just taking those planes that served as the sources of the dimensional card pools as examples.
"Genshin Impact" was a story interwoven with Light Realm Power, Human Realm Power, and Void Realm Power.
"Type-Moon" was a drama jointly composed by Gaia, the will of the planet, and Alaya, the collective will of primates, along with the humans living on the Blue Planet, for the sake of their respective survival.
"Naruto" was a rondo of visitors from the sky, local natives, and hybrid descendants.
"Bleach" needed no further mention; Shinigami, Hollows, Quincies, Fullbringers—whoever had more mixed powers was stronger.
The "DanMachi" world he was currently in, presumably, would not be any special exception.
Levi's ambition was great; he vainly attempted to achieve the status of a true God with the body of a Lower World human. And to achieve this point, the analysis of the worldview, or rather, the underlying rules of the world, was a topic that absolutely could not be bypassed.
'The essence of Gods is [Divine Power].'
'Aside from this, humans and Gods can also produce [Wish Power]. It is just that the former is more mixed, while the latter is relatively pure. Combining [Wish Power] with [Elements] can form [Spiritual Light], which is not weaker than [Divine Power].'
'Here, let's tentatively equate [Spiritual Light] with humans.'
'Then, what is the high-dimensional energy corresponding to monsters? And where is it?'
Levi asked himself in his heart and immediately reached a conclusion.
—In the pitch-black monsters, or rather, inside the 'God's Assassins'!
—As for the name, I can first use [Pitch-black Divine Power] to refer to it.
A breath of stale air was exhaled, and the pale-gold haired boy leaning on the sofa slightly curled the corners of his mouth. Seeing him relax completely, Hestia couldn't help but ask curiously, "Have you already guessed the situation of the Dungeon?"
"No." Levi shook his head, then nodded. "I just know how to walk the path after becoming a Demigod."
____
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