DISCLAIMER IS IN THE FIRST CHAPTER!

ARC I: ORCUS GREAT LABYRINTH — LAST PART

As Hajime and co passed the double doors behind Hydra's corpse, they were stunned at the sight that greeted them inside.

The sun was shining brightly into the room. Of course, they were still underground, so it couldn't possibly have been the real sun.

There was a giant conical structure hanging high above the ceiling, with a dazzlingly bright orb hugging the cone's bottom side. The reason Hajime's mind had instantly thought of sunlight was not only due to the light and warmth, but also because it had none of the artificial quality present in lamps or fluorescent lighting.

"...It looks like the real sun." Kaori murmured. She had the same dazed expression as the other.

However, their dazed state was cut short when they realized they'd lowered their guard. They waited for attack, but nothing happened. They exchanged silent gazes and slowly lowered their guards. They had realized the sound of rushing water filled the room as well.

The room they were in was about the size of a baseball stadium, with the wall in the far back completely covered by a waterfall. Water poured out of a small opening in the ceiling and fell into a river below that flowed further in, passing through a cavern on the far wall. The rush of falling water created a refreshing breeze that blew pleasantly across their faces. Upon closer inspection, Hajime discovered that there were fish living in the river too. It was possible the fish had followed the river's current and traveled there from the surface.

The normal fish told Hajime and co that this place didn't have any monsters like the rest of the abyss. It made them relaxed even more.

A short distance from the river was a miniature farm. There didn't seem to be anything growing there at the moment. Next to the fields stood a cozy looking barn. Though it seemed empty, it was clear with the supply of water, fish, meat, and vegetables present that one could cook anything they were so inclined to. The entire room was covered in greenery and there were trees scattered about the area.

Hajime decided to explore the side closest to him first, and started walking toward a building located next to the bedroom they'd been sleeping in. It was more a structure carved directly out of the rock wall than a building.

They found most of the doors were locked and left them be for the meantime.

The rock that the house was carved out of appeared to be some kind of white limestone. It gave of a very clean look, and another one of those light spheres was hanging from the entrance's ceiling. The light was a bit too dazzling for Hajime and his girls, who'd spent a great deal of time surrounded by darkness. The house was three stories tall and well ventilated throughout.

They decided to start by exploring the first floor.

There was a thick rug laid out next to a fireplace, a living room furnished with sofas, a kitchen, and even a bathroom. Interestingly enough, the place appeared brand new.

Though they found no presence of other people, it seemed obviously lived in. The appliances and furniture hadn't seen use in quite some time, but it was clear their owner took good care of them. Rather than an inhabited dwelling, it felt more like a house someone simply managed. Hajime and co warily continued deeper into the house.

After a while, they found themselves standing outside again. There was an oval-shaped door that led to a backyard of sorts that contained a lion statue. The lion's mouth was open mid-roar. Next to the statue was a magic circle. Hajime experimentally poured some mana into it, and hot water jettisoned out of the lion's gaping maw. Apparently lion fountains were a staple of high-class places no matter which world one was in.

"This is basically a bath, isn't it? Perfect, it's been months since I last took one." Hajime smiled lightly. The rest showed more open expression because they cared more for their hygiene because they were woman. Until that point they had never had the luxury to worry about hygiene, but now that they were finally able to take a breather they realized they were filthy all over.

Hajime used the magic circle to pour out some more water and lightly wiped his body down as a temporary measure.

Still, that wasn't enough to satisfy him and the girls. Hajime, Kaori, and Shizuku were Japanese, and like all their countrymen, they loved baths. On the other hand, Yue was a former royalty and had sat on the throne for a short while. It could be said the proud vampire queen had similar sentiment about hygiene with them. Once they were sure the area was safe, Hajim was going to take a nice long soak and cleanse himself properly. The girls also mirrored his idea secretly.

At this point, Yue caught Hajime growing excitement, and chimed in with her opinion on the matter. "...Do you want to go in together?"

"I'd prefer to relax alone for a bit..." Hajime responded unsurely because he actually didn't mind about that.

"Hajime, I can rub your back if you want. No, I'd be happy to help you clean yourself later." Didn't want to lose against her bitter rival, Kaori also offered her service.

"Unoriginal bitch..." Yue openly insulted Kaori and got deadly glare from Kaori. It was a glare that could make any lesser man wail like a little bitch shamelessly. Kaori's pupils constricted into dots and the light in her eyes dulled. Her eyes looked dead and terrifying. To counter Kaori's (Hajime dubbed it as) yandere glare, Yue glared with her own brand of threatening appearance; her dark pupils elongated vertically into slits splitting her irises and her canines growing longer and jutting down from her sneer.

Before the two girls started their carnage, Hajime broke the standoff and dragged the two dangerous girls to the second floor. There they discovered a library and a workshop of some kind. But the bookshelves and the door inside the workshop were all locked, so they weren't able to do a thorough examination of the rooms. They tried various means of opening them, but none worked, so they simply gave up. The walls and doors of this place were like the walls, floors and ceilings in the abyss.

After that, they climbed the stairs to the third floor and saw a single room set in the back. There was nothing else on the floor. As Hajime pushed open the door, he saw an eight-meter-long magic circle inlaid on the floor that had some of the most complex and subtle inscriptions he had ever seen. The circle's design and layout were so detailed that it wouldn't have been an exaggeration to call the whole thing a work of art.

But what caught Hajime's and other's eyes most was the person sitting in an ostentatious chair right next to the circle.

Said person was clearly dead. The corpse had already decayed until nothing but bones remained, and it was clothed in a grand robe of black and gold. There was not the slightest hint of dust or grime anywhere on the robe. The impeccable cleanliness of the corpse made it seem more akin to a haunted house prop than something actually scary.

It was splayed out on the chair in a relaxed pose, with the skull's empty sockets staring down at its own figure. Almost as if the person it had once been had simply sat down there and died that way. The skeleton and magic circle were the only objects in the room.

Why'd they choose to come here to die and not their bedroom or the living room...? Hajime couldn't help but retort at the spectacle.

"Looks suspicious... What should we do?" Yue asked. She and the other girls seemed concerned about the skeleton as well. Hajime assumed it must have belonged to the maverick that was said to live here.

The strange thing was that he died peacefully sitting like that, as if he were waiting for someone. He couldn't help but feel something tickling him inside. He couldn't properly realize what it was because he was still fresh from the abyss. However, he would realize it later but not now.

"Well, if we want to find a way out, this room seems to be our best bet. Even Transmutation couldn't do anything to the locks we found in the library and the workshop, so... this is the only thing left to investigate. Yue, Kaori, and Shizuku, be ready for anything. I'll be counting on you if something happens."

"No! I'm going to check it out! Hajime! You stand here obediently like a good boy!"

Hajime was surprised by Kaori's sudden outburst. Unfortunately, Kaori's obsession in keeping him safe had leveled up after she got Automatic Regeneration, discarding the fact that Hajime was also nigh-immortal with his own Automatic Regeneration. Before Hajime and Shizuku could stop her, Kaori used Supersonic Step and appeared above the magic circle before Hajime. Yue had decided to be silent and let Kaori be the Guinea Pig for them. Hajime quickly jumped after Kaori who was infusing her mana into the magic circle.

Suddenly, the entire room was filled with bright yellow light. Hajime and Kaori closed their eyes, unable to handle the intensity. A second later, it felt as if something invaded their head, and they began seeing flashbacks of their time in the abyss, starting from when he fell all the way up until they fought the Hydra.

Finally, the magic circle's power began to wane and the light dimmed somewhat. The both Hajime and Kaori opened their eyes... and saw a black-robed young man standing before them. They hadn't sensed him enter the room at all.

The magic circle still glowed faintly, filling the room with a mystical light. Hajime instantly shifted into a battle stance and Kaori stood in front of Hajime with hands covered with insane amount of crackling voltage, but after a few seconds they lowered his guard. Not only could he not feel any hostility or malice coming from the man in front of him, but the figure himself didn't seem real. When he scrutinized it a little further, Hajime realized the robe he was wearing was the same as the one the skeleton had. That told him enough to guess who the man in front of him probably was.

Hajime and the others silently gazed at the figure, waiting for something to happen. Finally, the apparition began to speak.

"I congratulate you on overcoming my trial. My name is Oscar Orcus. I am the man who created this labyrinth. I suppose to the world I'm known as a maverick." It seemed the dead man sitting in front of them was Oscar Orcus, the creator of the Great Orcus Labyrinth. Hajime and Co stared, half surprised, half expecting it.

"By the way, please spare me the questions. This is nothing more than a recording I left behind, so I unfortunately cannot answer any queries you may have. I wanted to tell those who made it this far why it was that we, who learned the truth of the world, chose to fight against the gods... so I decided to leave a message. And this was the simplest form to convey that message in. I want you to know... that though we were mavericks, we were not truly rebels."

The story he wove for them was completely different from the historyHajime, Kaori, and Shizuku had learned from the Holy Church's records and explanation, or the stories Yue had been told about the mavericks. The revelations Oscar had for them shocked Yue to the core. But, Hajime, Kaori, and Shizuku had half-expected it after the found Denreed's recording for Yue, no, Aleytia—Yue's true name.

His tale was one of mad gods and their descendants who fought against them.

A short time after the Age of the Gods, the world was engulfed in strife. Humans, demons, and even beastmen all fought against each other in a never-ending war. Their reasons were as numerous as their battles. Land, resources, personal values, greed, but most important among them was theology.

In that age, the races and countries were split up into numerous factions, each of which had their own god. And it was each tribe's god that incited its people to fight against those who worshiped others.

After some time, a group appeared that sought to put an end to this centuries-long war.

They called themselves the Liberators.

There was only one thing they all had in common. Each member was a direct descendant of one of the gods. Their leader was someone who had, by coincidence, happened to learn of the gods' true intentions. It appeared that the gods were using the various races like pawns, playing a grand game of chess with the world as their board. The leader of the Liberators couldn't stand their sickening disregard for life, and began looking for comrades who felt the same way he did.

After an arduous search, they were able to discover the location of Asgard, the home of the gods. There were seven among the Liberators who were exceptionally powerful, and they were chosen to be the vanguard in the battle against the gods.

However, their plans were foiled before the battle could even begin. The gods manipulated the sentient races and made them believe the Liberators were trying to destroy the world. They were marked as enemies of the gods, and every human, demon, and beastman considered them their mortal foe.

After a great many conspiracies, events, and dramatic encounters, the Liberators found themselves on the run. They couldn't bring themselves to fight the people they had sworn to protect, but those very people believed they were ungrateful heretics trying to bring about the end of the world. Their true name was forgotten, and they were known simply as mavericks in the annals of history.

The Liberators were killed off one by one, until only the strongest seven remained. With the entire world against them, they realized they wouldn't be able to defeat the gods. So they scattered to the ends of the earth and built huge labyrinths to hide themselves in.

They created a series of trials, praying that someone who could clear them might one day appear, so they could bequeath their powers onto them in hopes that these new warriors would carry out their dreams.

After he finished his long speech, Oscar smiled peacefully.

"I have no idea who you are, or why you chose to fight your way down here. Nor do I have any intention of forcing my own dreams of the gods' demise onto you. I simply wanted you to know what it was we fought, and died, for... As a reward for hearing me out, I shall grant you my strength. How you use it is entirely up to you. I can only pray you won't use it for evil. That's all I have to say. Thank you for listening to the end. May the 'blessings' of the gods never reach you…"

Oscar's apparition vanished once he finished talking. At the same time, Hajime and Kaori felt something strange enter their mind. The sensation was quite painful, but because they knew what was happening, they quietly let it enter inside them.

The pain finally subsided, and the magic circle grew dim once more. Hajime and Kaori let out a long breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding in the whole time.

"Kaori, Hajime, what happened? Are you fine?" Shizuku approached them and asked in concern.

"Hajime... are you ok?" On the other hand, Yue had a tunnel vision only for Hajime.

"Yeah, I'm fine... But man, what a tale."

Kaori and Shizuku silently nodded, wholeheartedly agreed with Hajime's opinion.

"Yeah... What are you going to do?"

Yue was referring, of course, to Oscar's tale. Kaori and Shizuku immediately fixed their attention on him, urging him to answer with their impatient gazes.

"Hm? Nothing really. It was those good-for-nothing gods that summoned me, Kaori, and Shizuku here in the first place and told us to go fight in their war. I hate them as it is anyway. Still, this world's got nothing to do with me. All I care about is making it back to the surface and finding a way home. That's all..." He paused and turned his attention to Kaori and Shizuku. He found Kaori nodded at him, fully agreed with him. On the contrary, Shizuku had thoughtful grimace on her face. They said nothing and Hajime gave Yue his attention. "Did his story bother you, Yue?"

The old Hajime and Kaori might have been more sympathetic to this world's plight, but the reforged Hajime discarded Oscar's tale without so much as a second thought while Kaori would follow anything he decided. Too eager to please him until it was the short of unhealthy obsession. For Hajime, Oscar's tale is this world's problem, so the people of this world should deal with it. On the other hand, Shizuku still retained her compassion even though she'd been broken by the abyss. Hence, she was in dilemma and clamped herself around Hajime after his revelation in Yue's sealing chamber. Since Hajime had realized that Shizuku was also very important to him, just as Yue and Kaori. Yue was someone of this world. Which was why, if Shizuku and Yue said they wanted to do something about it, Hajime might have reconsidered. His bond with Yue and Shizuku wasn't something he could discard as easily Oscar's story.

However, Yue shook her head without hesitation.

"My home is wherever you are... I don't care about anywhere else." She sidled up to Hajime and squeezed his hand. The warmth of her hand told him she wasn't just trying to be considerate.

Yue once devoted her entire life to her country. Despite that, she was betrayed by the ones she trusted most and left to rot in the darkness. None of her subjects came to save her. Three hundred years had passed since then, and all the people she knew were long since dead. For Yue, there was not a single thing left to care about in this world. In fact, much like Hajime, she had started to see the realm as a prison more than her home after being trapped for so long. And it was Hajime who had saved her from that prison, which was why she only cared about being by Hajime's side. There was also the fact that Yue had chosen Hajime as her future spouse. As expected for a former queen who devoted to her country once, Yue was surprisingly a devoted type of a woman beneath her proud nature as vampire queen.

"...I see." Hajime blushed a little. He then cleared his throat because he could feel murderous intent from Kaori. The girl had been considerate enough to give him a time and a chance to talk. But, it was clear that she disliked how Yue acted around him.

When Hajime shifted his vision in Shizuku's direction, their eyes met and the swordswoman quickly averted her eyes. Her grimace deepened. Hajime withheld a sigh, reinforcing his decision to have a private talk with Shizuku to short everything out, and then dropped a bombshell of an announcement, which didn't affect Kaori since she already knew about it.

"Umm, also, I think I learned a new spell... Some kind of magic from the Age of the Gods, I think?"

"...Really?" Yue said, amazed. Her surprise was understandable. After all, magic from the Age of the Gods was something the gods had once used, magic that no longer existed in the present day. Teleportation magic was from that age as well. Shizuku shifted her attention back to him again and there was a hint of surprise in her blood red eyes.

Hajime nodded and continued. "This magic circle did something to my head, and it's like I suddenly understand how it works, kind of."

"Don't worry. It hadn't done something suspicious or dangerous to us, though I think this magic is suited Hajime's ability better that mine." Kaori added.

"Yeah, what Kaori said. This spell's a perfect fit for me." Hajime confirmed.

"...What kind of spell is it?"

At Yue's question, he responded after thinking for a moment. "Umm, it's a creation spell of some kind. It lets me add magical properties to minerals, and create new ore with special traits."

Yue's jaw hung open as she listened to Hajime's explanation. Shizuku showed more subdued reaction, her eyes widening slightly. Both of them realized what kind of magic that was.

"You can make artifacts?" Yue asked in subdued excitement.

"Yeah, something like that."

The creation spell Hajime and Kaori had inherited was the same magic people had used to create artifacts in the Age of the Gods. Truly, it was the perfect skill for a Synergist. Though Hajime didn't know it, Oscar's job had also been Synergist.

"You want to learn it too, Yue, Shizuku? You just have to step into the magic circle. It does this kind of thing where it runs through your memories. Oscar said something about a trial earlier too, so since we cleared it together, you should have the right to learn it as well."

"...I can't use transmutation."

"This spell is useless for me too..."

Yue and Shizuku answered at the same time.

"Oh yeah, I guess that's true... Still, it's magic from the Age of the Gods. There's no real harm in learning it either way, right?"

Yue and Shizuku exchanged glances silently before agreeing with Hajime.

"Okay. If you want me to, Hajime."

Urged onward by Hajime, Yue stepped into the magic circle first. It began glowing faintly and started probing Yue's memories. It must have decided Yue had cleared the conditions as well, since the apparition appeared once more.

"I congratulate you on overcoming my trial. My name is Oscar..."

Oscar's disembodied voice rang out for a second time. Having it happen a second time kind of ruined the moment. Oscar repeated the same words he had earlier, so Hajime and co ignored him and continued their conversation.

"How'd it go? Did you learn it?"

"Yeah, I did. But artifacts don't make much sense to me."

"Hmmm, I guess even ancient magic is useless unless you've got an affinity for it."

The vision of Oscar smiled as it wrapped up its conversation. It was kind of surreal, really. Hajime couldn't be sure he didn't imagine it, but it felt like the skeleton behind the vision looked somewhat sad. Then, it repeated again when it was Shizuku turn. This time, they disregarded Oscar's apparition entirely. Hajime swore he was hallucinating that the bone became teary-eyed.

"Ah, since I guess this house is basically ours now, we should get rid of the skeleton." He had no respect for the corpse at all.

"Yeah... He'll make good fertilizer for the fields." Neither did Yue.

"The dead should be useful for the life, yeah." Kaori too.

Though there was no wind, Oscar's skull fell forward another few inches.

"Guys, I think we should give him more respect since he gave us his Age of God's magic." Shizuku, the sole reason in their group, tried to dissuade the others for turning Oscar's remaining as a fertilizer.

Somehow, Oscar's skull returned back to its previous position. Shizuku blinked her eyes in bemusement and unease when she saw the grateful expression of the skull. Maybe, they were too tired and hallucinated…

After that, they buried Oscar's skeleton near the edge of the field and even gave him a modest gravestone. In the end, even they felt enough pity for him that they didn't just make him into fertilizer. Once the burial was finished, Hajime and Co returned to the two places that had been locked before. When they had buried him, they'd relieved him of the ring he'd been wearing on his skeletal finger. It wasn't grave-robbing, since he hadn't been buried yet.

The ring had a symbol of a circle with a cross splitting it into even sections engraved on it, which matched the engravings on the locks perfectly.

First, they went to the library. They were hoping some of the books would have knowledge on how to get back to the surface. Hajime and co broke the seal on the bookshelves and started perusing the volumes. During their search, they discovered what appeared to be the building's blueprints. It wasn't nearly as detailed as a proper set of blueprints, but there were a lot of memos about what would be built where and how the layout of the house would look.

"Bingo! I found it, girls!"

"Nice."

"Good job, Hajime!"

Although Shizuku didn't join Yue and Kaori in congratulating Hajime, she had a small smile to congratulate him.

According to the blueprints, the magic circle on the third floor connected to another circle that would teleport them back to the surface. It seemed that function could only be activated with Orcus' ring, though. It was fortunate they'd sto— taken it from him. They also learned that cleaning was handled automatically at set intervals by golems that normally rested in one of the workshop rooms, and that the globe hanging from the ceiling possessed the same properties as the sun, so they could grow crops if they wished.

So that's why it's so clean even though no one's lived here in ages. That realization flashed in everyone's mind.

There were a number of artifacts and rare materials Oscar had been working with in the locked room of his workshop, according to the memos. Hajime decided to ste— take those too. It couldn't hurt to have more items to work with after all.

"Hajime... look at this."

"Hm?"

Shizuku had been looking through the other books while Hajime, Yue, and Kaori had pored over the blueprints and other books that took their interest, and she came to him with one of them in her hands. It turned out to be Oscar's diary. It chronicled the normal everyday life of Oscar and his six powerful companions. One of the passages in it talked about the labyrinths his six comrades had made.

"...So basically, that means if we conquer the other labyrinths, we can get all the ancient magic the other Liberators possessed too?"

"...who knows?"

"...perhaps."

Kaori made a deduction with a thoughtful frown. Hajime shrugged his shoulders at that while Yue responded with a clipped tone.

According to his diary, his six comrades had also designed their labyrinths so that anyone who made it all the way to its furthest depths would be granted magic from the Age of the Gods. Unfortunately, it didn't go into the specifics of what kind of magic each had.

"One of them might help us get back to our world."

Shizuku definitely has a point there. After all, the teleportation magic that summoned my class here was from the Age of the Gods too. Hajime's internally agreed with Shizuku's opinion. "Now we have an idea of where to look next. Our goal after we get back to the surface is to conquer the other six labyrinths."

"Yeah." Yue, Kaori, and Shizuku agreed with his plan easily enough. They had seen him as their capable leader and more.

Hajime smiled, glad he'd finally found a lead. He started unconsciously patting Yue's head since she was closer in his reach, to which she closed her eyes happily and let herself be spoiled while Kaori glared in jealousy. In the end, Hajime's hands were busy patting the two girls' heads while Shizuku watched silently in amusement.

After that, they searched around the library for a while longer, but they couldn't find any books telling them the exact locations of the other labyrinths. For now, they were stuck with the two whose locations were known, the Grand Gruen Volcano and the Haltina Woods. They could also start searching around the Reisen Gorge and Schnee Snow Fields, where two other labyrinths were said to be hidden.

Once they finished rummaging through the library, the pair headed over to the workshop. There were a number of locked doors in the workshop, all of which Hajime opened with Orcus' ring. Crammed inside were all manner of ore, tools with unknown purposes, and work manuals. The entire treasure trove was a Synergist's wet dream come true. Hajime folded his arms as he lapsed into thought. The girls tilted her head, puzzled, and Kaori beat Yue first for asking him the question on their minds.

"...What's wrong?"

After thinking deeply for a few minutes, Hajime turned to his girls and answered.

"Hmm, well I was thinking. How about we stay here for a little while, girls? Don't get me wrong, I'm eager to return to the surface too... but since there's all this stuff to explore and learn about, it might be better to make this our base and rest up for a bit. Especially since if we're going to be heading for the other labyrinths next, it'd be best to prepare ourselves as much as possible. What do you think?" Hajime was trying to be considerate of Yue, since he figured after 300 years of darkness she was aching to see the light, but she agreed rather quickly after looking at him blankly for a few seconds. Hajime found that a little strange, but she just gave him a curt reply.

"...As long as I'm with you, Hajime, anywhere is fine." It seemed she didn't harbor any burning desire to see the sun. Hajime blushed and scratched his cheek when he heard her declare that so boldly. Though, Kaori was displeased at that and hugged Hajime from behind possessively, pressing her generous tits on his back.

Shizuku seemed to have different opinion, but she held back her opinion because she was outvoted three two one. In the end, she agreed in resignation.

With that settled, the two decided to stay there to train and prepare as much as possible.

Two months and give and take several days had passed since they arrived in Oscar's place. Hajime and Shizuku had sorted out everything out at the night when Yue and Kaori were sleeping deeply and peacefully. How that happens is a story for another time.

His relationship with his girls had become official. Both Hajime's body and spirit had been reforged by fighting the monstrosities that inhabited the deepest pits of hell. But no matter how much the abyss might have toughened him up, he still had had no chance of fending off Yue's and Kaori's aggressive advances.

When the Vampire Queen and Demonic Priestess teamed up against him, not even Lady Ashura could help the Monster of Abyss. Although, most of the time, Shizuku was carried away by Yue's and Kaori's max tensions and joined them in squeezing Hajime dry.

Hajime realized the sad truth that he almost died many times because he was squeezed dry by his women than fighting in the abyss. Those three were savages when they were in the right mood.

So, in the end, he decided to simply accept his fate.

He'd known for a while that Yue had feelings for him. It was actually part of why he'd promised to bring Yue back home with him. Plus, he'd realized he cared for Kaori and Shizuku too, but had given himself flimsy excuses like telling himself he needed to keep his mind focused on the goal or he'd never make it back home to keep himself from acting on those feelings.

But then they'd managed to discover a safe location to turn into their base, and a hint on how he could find his way home, so even that flimsy pretext had vanished. Without any reason left to turn down Yue and Kaori, he could no longer resist. And with the problem between him and Shizuku was sorted up, he decided to propose the three of them at once.

He knew he was being unreasonable. But, he went "Fuck monogamy! We have gone through many deadly situations together and we have changed from the past us! Let me do this and become the proper Isekai Harem Protagonist, yeah!"

Their idyllic lifestyle in the following months had been so full of coquettish flirtation that anyone watching them would have started tearing their hair out in annoyance. Somehow, when Yue and Kaori latched on his arms while Shizuku would latch on his back, they would create their own brand of the Age of God's magic that rewrite the reality around them, turning everything around them into glittering pink personal reality in which rose petals raining down from nowhere and twinkling bubble floating around. It was the scene straight out of Hajime's mom —Nagumo Sumire— Shoujou manga.

Around the same time, somewhere very far away, a group of boys and girls with a single awkward adult that didn't look like one and a leader who was mostly forgotten because of his thin presence was trying to survive in the treacherous wilderness of Tortus. They met a group of kindhearted and overly pacifist rabbit beastmen who had been kicked out from their homeland and journeyed together. It was an omen of what was soon to come.

"...Hajime, how does that feel?"

"Ahhh, yeah that's perfect, Yue."

"Ne, ne, Hajime, what about me?"

"Aaah, that's good too, Kaori."

"Hajime... er..."

"Don't worry, you did good too, Shizuku."

Yue, Kaori, and Shizuku were currently giving Hajime a massage. An honest to goodness, non-erotic massage. They were both fully clothed too. Hajime had modified some of Oscar's old clothes to fit them with the girls' help.

Hajime was sitting on a couch. Yue was massaging his arms while sitting on his laps. Kaori was massaging his shoulder from behind. Meanwhile, Shizuku was massaging Hajime's feet. Looking from any angle, it was the scene of successful harem protagonist who got pampered by his harem. It was a sight that would make all men become jealous and vomit blood in envy.

Over the course of the past two months, Hajime and Co had both improved their strength and equipment far beyond what it had been when they first arrived. These were Hajime's current stats, to put into perspective just how much they had grown.

Hajime Nagumo - Age: 17 - Male - Level: ?

Job: Synergist

Strength: 10950

Vitality: 13190

Defense: 10670

Agility: 13450

Magic: 14780

Magic Defense: 14780

Skills: Transmute [+Ore Appraisal] [+Precision Transmutation] [+Ore Perception] [+Ore Desynthesis] [+Ore Synthesis] [+Duplicate Transmutation] [+Compression Synthesis] — Mana Manipulation [+Mana Discharge] [+Mana Compression] [+Remote Manipulation] — Iron Stomach — Lightning Field —Underwater Breathe — Air Dance [+Aerodynamic] [+Supersonic Step] [+Steel Legs] [+Riftwalk] — Gale Claw — Night Vision — Far Sight — Sense Presence [+Precision Sensing] — Detect Magic [+Precision Sensing] — Sense Heat [+Precision Sensing] — Hide Presence [+Illusion Waltz] — Poison Resistance — Paralysis Resistance — Petrification Resistance — Fear Resistance — Elemental Resistance — Foresight — Diamond Skin — Steel Arms — Intimidate — Telepathy — Tracking — Increased Mana Recovery — Mana Conversion [+Stamina] — Automatic Regeneration — Limit Break — Creation Magic — Language Comprehension

Kaori Sharashiki - Age: 17 - Female - Level: ?

Job: Priestess

Strength: 8580

Vitality: 9110

Defense: 8020

Agility: 8450

Magic: 15510

Magic Defense: 15510

Skills: Healing Magic [+Blessing] [+Miracle] [+Ten Thousand Heavens] [+Increase Effectiveness] [+Increase Healing Rate] [+Increase Healing Rate] [+Increase Healing Range] [+Increase in Magic Power Efficiency] [+Continuous Activation] — All Elements Aptitude — Barrier Magic [+Light Severance] [+Holy Severance] [+Heaven Interruption] — High Speed Magic Power Recovery — Restrain — Examine — Focus — Infiltrate — Mana Manipulation — Iron Stomach — Lightning Bolt — Gale Claw — Air Dance [+Aerodynamic] [+Supersonic Step] [+Steel Legs] [+Riftwalk] — Curse [+Petrifying Gaze] [+Poison Fog] [+Paralyzing Powder] [+ Bewildering Powder] [+ Devilish Charm] [+ Mental Interference] — Night Vision — Far Sight — Sense Presence [+Precision Sensing] — Detect Magic [+Precision Sensing] — Sense Heat [+Precision Sensing] — Hide Presence [+Illusion Waltz] — Poison Resistance — Paralysis Resistance — Petrification Resistance — Fear Resistance — Elemental Resistance — Foresight — Diamond Skin — Steel Arms — Intimidate — Telepathy — Tracking — Mana Conversion [+Stamina] [+Strength] — Automatic Regeneration — Limit Break — Creation Magic — Language Comprehension

Shizuku Yaegashi - Age: 17 - Female - Level: ?

Job: Swordswoman

Strength: 8750

Vitality: 9150

Defense: 8170

Agility: 15650

Magic: 8780

Magic Defense: 8780

Skills: Swordsmanship [+ Thunder Flower] [+ Flash Claw] [+ Extreme Blade] [+ No Beat] [+ Flash Draw] [+ Gattling Slash] — Prediction — Stealth — Mana Manipulation — Iron Stomach — Lightning Field — Air Dance [+ Aerodynamic][+ Lightspeed Step] [+ Sword Hand] [+All Stagnate] — Night Vision — Far Sight — Sense Presence [+Precision Sensing] — Detect Magic [+Precision Sensing] — Sense Heat [+Precision Sensing] — Hide Presence [+ShadeBlitz] — Poison Resistance — Paralysis Resistance — Petrification Resistance — Fear Resistance — Elemental Resistance — Foresight — Diamond Skin — Steel Arms — Intimidate — Telepathy — Tracking — Increased Mana Recovery — Mana Conversion [+Stamina] [+Speed] — Automatic Regeneration — Limit Break — Creation Magic — Language Comprehension

Yue/Aleytia Gardia Wespertrio Avatar- Age: 317 - Female - Level: ?

Job: Sorceress (Demigod)

Strength: 5850

Vitality: 7690

Defense: 5670

Agility: 5450

Magic: 25050

Magic Defense: 25050

Skills: Magic Manipulation [+Magic Emission] [+Magic Compression] [+Remote Control] [+Efficiency Rise] [+Magic Absorption] — All Elements Aptitude — Compound Magic — Composition by Imagination [+Imagine Up] [+Simultaneous Compound] [+Delayed Invocation] — Blood Conversion [+Body Strengthening] [+Magic Conversion] [+Vitality Conversion] [+Magic Strengthening] [+Blood Pact] — High Speed Magic Recovery — Detect Magic [+Precision Sensing] — Sense Heat [+Precision Sensing] — Hide Presence [+ShadowCurtain] — Poison Resistance — Paralysis Resistance — Petrification Resistance — Fear Resistance — Elemental Resistance — Foresight — Diamond Skin — Steel Arms — Intimidate — Telepathy — Tracking — Increased Mana Recovery — Mana Conversion [+Stamina] [+Strength] [+Agility] — Automatic Regeneration — Limit Break — Creation Magic

A person's level was meant to denote their current degree of growth compared to their max potential, and capped at 100. However, their body had undergone so many transformations after absorbing demon meat that after a certain point his level stopped growing even when his stats did, and finally his status plate had simply decided to mark his level as unknown.

It did make sense, considering their current stats would normally be unthinkable with the starting values they had initially begun with. Their upper limits as a human had increased with their stats, so it was safe to assume that their status plate was unable to calculate the limits of his potential with their body so transformed.

As a comparison, the hero Kouki Amanogawa's maximum stats were somewhere in the 1500 range. With the Limit Break skill, Kouki could temporarily triple those stats, but even then, they barely came up to one third of the weakest overall stats in Hajime's party who was surprisingly Yue since she transformed late. And thanks to the Hydra they had consumed, Hajime and Co gained the Limit Break skill too.

They had far surpassed their overpowered classmates and become an overpowered cheat themselves. Hajime was the most standing out because he started with the lowest level and stats.

Most average humans had maximum stats of no more than 100 to 200, while those who possessed a job ranged from 300 to 400. Demons and beastmen could have stats ranging anywhere from 300 to 600 depending on the individual race and its characteristics. If the hero, Kouki, was overpowered, then Hajime had to be some kind of monster. With how much he had changed both physically and mentally, monster probably was the best description for him.

Hajime had plundered Oscar's workshop. A handy piece of equipment he'd obtained was the "Treasure Trove." This was a ring-shaped artifact that had a small one centimeter ruby set in its center. The ruby was actually an artificially created dimensional space where things could be stored. It was like a bag of holding, basically. Hajime wasn't sure exactly how big this space was, but it was large enough to hold a decent amount. There had still been space left over even after he had crammed all of his weapons, tools, and crafting materials inside it. It only took a little bit of mana to activate the magic circle engraved on the ruby to add or remove things to it. Anything within one meter of the ring could be deposited, and withdrawn objects could be placed anywhere within the same radius.

It was a very handy artifact by any measure, but for Hajime it was especially useful because of his weapons. Because the ring could transport withdrawn objects anywhere within one meter of the ring, Hajime had toyed with the possibility of reloading with it. When he had put his theory to the test, he met with limited success. While the ring wasn't precise enough to let him warp the bullets directly into his magazine, it could bring them out perfectly aligned in position to be loaded. So instead he combined his skills together to teleport the bullets into the air above his gun chamber and let them fall into the magazine. It was an impromptu form of midair reloading.

The only type of gun suited to that style was a break-action revolver. Unfortunately, break-action revolvers weren't as powerful as swing-out revolvers. However, reloading a swing-out revolver in midair was also far more difficult.

In order to remedy the situation, Hajime had created a makeshift kind of swing-out cylinder. Part of it swung out to the top to allow for midair reloading. By manipulating his mana, he could discard old shells as well. Then all he needed to do was spin the chamber and let the bullets fall into place.

It had taken him only a month of nonstop training to perfect this technique. And there was a reason he managed to master this superhuman feat in only a month. His Riftwalk ability. Riftwalk not only gave him the ability to heighten his other movement skills, but it also enhanced his five senses to their limit. It made it seem as if the rest of the world was moving in slow motion, which was what made midair reloading possible. However, it still couldn't be compared with Shizuku's new movement skill, which basically stopped the time itself for some time.

On top of improving his weapons, he had also crafted a two-wheel mana-powered vehicle, Steiff, and a four-wheel mana-powered vehicle, Brise. As their description suggested, they used mana as fuel. Their frames were covered with Azantium, the hardest metal in existence. Both of them were loaded to the brim with weapons too. For all his transformations, Hajime was still a boy at heart. He still had a burning passion for all things military.

If a certain silver eyed weapon nuts saw that, she would declare Hajime as her soulmate right here and now. Fortunately, they were separated by barrier between dimensions or Yue and Kaori would throw a fit.

There had been times that he had gotten so focused on his crafting that Yue had started to sulk, and he had all sorts of fluids sucked out of him before she forgave him, and Kaori and Shizuku watched him with painfully understanding eyes. He had also developed something he called the Demon Eye.

Hajime had mulled the idea of exchanging one of his eyes with magical eye all Chuunibyou would sell their soul to devils to get one. At this point, Hajime hadn't realized his chuunibyou syndrome slipped out the leash without him realizing. Alas, Hajime found out it was impossible because his eye would regenerate back after being plucked out. When he forcefully pushed the 'Demon Eye' into his eye's socket, the 'demon eye' was pushed out by his Automatic Regeneration. In the end, he settled with a lens that had the same ability of his prototype demon eye. He still called it Demon Eye in the end.

He created the demon eye for a piece of the Divinity Stone with Detect Magic and Foresight, which created an artificial eye that saw different things than a normal one. When it was turned into a lens, it retained the effects. He also added the needless cosmetic makeup in the lens. When he infused the lens with his mana, a complicated small magic circle that didn't have any mean would appear in the middle of the lens. He got a kind consoling gaze from his girls, to which he felt annoyed for some reason.

His Demon Eye couldn't see things his normal eye could. Instead, it saw the flow and strength of mana surrounding a person or object, its color, and the element and "core" of the spell they were trying to activate. The core of a spell was basically the gist of how it was being activated and the effect it was attempting to enact on the world. He had known that the effects of a spell were governed by the inscriptions inlaid into the magic circle invoking the spell, but until now he had never considered the possibility that the spell and the magic circle must somehow have been linked for the circle to continue directing the spell after it was invoked. None of the books he had read in the palace had mentioned anything of the sort. It was quite possible he had made a new discovery in the field of magic. Especially considering that even Yue, who was an expert in magic, hadn't known anything about it either.

Much like Sense Presence, Detect Magic as a skill only gave Hajime a vague idea of the position and amount of mana being used. It wasn't much better than an alternate way of searching for enemies. However, with the enhanced Demon Eye, he could pinpoint the exact amount of mana being poured into what kind of spell, and because he could see the spell's "core," it was possible for him to shoot it down and nullify the spell entirely.

Shooting down a spell's core required an extreme amount of precision, though, so it wasn't always practical. The reason he had used the Divinity Stone as the base material for his eye was because no other ore would have worked. Hajime's guess was that only the Divinity Stone could hold enough mana to maintain the spells he had imbued it with. He was still unskilled at using his newly acquired creation magic, which was why he had only been able to add two spells to the Divinity Stone so far. But considering how much mana it could hold, he suspected he would be able to add even more spells to it once he got better at using his creation skill.

Shizuku had offered him an idea jokingly for adding other spells that could summon black fire when he gazed at his enemy, create illusion that messed up with the target's time perception, and create a solid mana construct around him as a barrier. Yue didn't know the reference but Hajime and Kaori understood it. Nevertheless, Hajime didn't dismiss the idea.

Surprisingly enough, Shizuku's ideas and advices were usually very useful like the revolver/short sword and lightning bullet launcher/spear he created for himself and Kaori.

Since the Demon Eye was made out of Divinity Stone, it was constantly giving off a faint glow. In other words, his lens covered eye was always glowing. No matter what he did, he couldn't seem to do anything about it, so he gave up and covered it with a black eyepatch. When Kaori asked why he did such needless thing, much to his chagrin, Hajime made a convoluted presentation about how his 'Demon Eye' was useful to find hiding enemy and to counter ambush and whatnot.

Besides Demon Eye, Hajime also created a gauntlet for his left arms. The gauntlet, white hair, an edgy looking gauntlet covering his arm, and an eyepatch— Hajime looked like some kind of edgy anime protagonist now. The kind that might have spouted cliched lines like, "Be still, my sealed left arm!" When he had seen himself in the mirror, Hajime had been so depressed that he had spent an entire day moping in bed. The girls had to resort to some rather... drastic measures to finally cheer him up. Yue and Kaori didn't understand his pain. Only Shizuku who realized the cause of his depression.

Hajime had upgraded his weapons too. He had upgraded his weapons with Azantium for the frame and bullets, making it harder than before. And since he no longer had to worry about carrying it around thanks to the ring, he lengthened the barrel as well, increasing its range and power. He had also added a new gun to his arsenal— Metzelei, a railgun-enhanced gatling gun that could mecha-shift into revving engine broadsword also a chainsaw that could cut through almost anything with high intensity vibrations.

It was a monster of a weapon, with six rotating barrels capable of firing 12,000 30mm caliber rounds a minute. He had used creation magic to form the barrel out of a special, self-cooling ore, but even then he could only fire consecutively for about five minutes or using the chainsaw mode before the gun/chainsaw hybrid ran the danger of overheating. Plus, it needed a long time to cool before he could use it again.

Also, as a way to gain complete combat superiority, and simply because Hajime thought it was cool, he had created a rocket launcher that could transform into a futuristic halberd called Orkan. It had a rectangular barrel, and boasted a large magazine allowing for 12 consecutive shots. He could fire different varieties of rockets too.

He had also created a sister revolver to Donner, Schlag-Schmitt. His preferred style of combat was close quarter gun combat, gun fu basically, with Donner-Schmitt and Schlag-Schmutt overpowering his enemies with the shot and the slash. The reason he had settled on close combat was to work more efficiently with Shizuku as another front liner and Yue and Kaori, who were a stereotypical back liner. That being said, he could fill any role in a party with the variety of equipment he had at his disposal.

Hajime had created a wealth of other miscellaneous tools and equipment. However, the Divinity Stone had finally lost most of its original mana, and had ceased producing Ambrosia. He only had four dozens of precious vials of it left. He had tried suffusing it with mana again, but the stone had refused to produce any more Ambrosia. The reason being that mana had to be concentrated in the stone over centuries in order for it to take effect.

But even then, Hajime didn't throw it away. It was, after all, the person— or rather stone, that had saved his life. It was a sheer stroke of luck that he had found it at all, and without it, he would have died for sure. Which was why he was so attached to it. He loved it as much as that one plane crash survivor from a certain movie had loved his volleyball.

So instead of discarding it, he had made use of the fact that it could store boundless amounts of mana to make his Demon Eye. He had then carved the remainder of the stone into a necklace, a pair of earrings, and a ring that he decided to gift to his girls as the symbol of his proposals to them.

Yue could use extremely powerful magic, all without incantations or magic circles, but because she could so easily pour mana into her spells, she quickly ran out and became unable to move. But by storing mana in her Divinity Stone jewelry beforehand, she would be able to use them as a battery, allowing her to fire off powerful spells one after another without collapsing. Kaori had similar problem, though she was mostly a support and a healer with some odd offensive attacks. Shizuku, on the other hand, had accessories that were enchanted with some strengthening spells, barriers spells, and healing spells that could be activated when she infused her mana into them.

Ten days later, Hajime and his girls finally decided to return to the surface.

As he began activating the magic circle on the third floor, Hajime quietly spoke to his girls.

"Everyone... my weapons and our powers are probably considered heresy to the Holy Church. I doubt they or the various human kingdoms are going to just let us roam free."

"""Yeah..."""

"They'll ask us to give up our artifacts or try and force us to help them in their war."

"""Yeah!"""

"If it was just humans we had to deal with, it wouldn't be a huge problem, but those crazy gods pulling everyone's strings are probably gonna be after us too."

"""Yeah!"""

"We might end up making the entire world our enemy. No matter how many lives we have, it might not be enough to come out unscathed."

"""So what...""" Hajime smiled at her girls' unconcerned responses. They looked up at him, and he firmly nodded his head to them in response. He looked deeply into their crimson eyes, and saw that they were glowing with happiness and determination. After a moment, he took a deep breath, then spoke aloud his hopes and convictions in order to carve them into his soul.

"I'll protect you, and you'll protect me. As long as we watch each other's backs, we'll be stronger than anyone. We'll beat down anyone who stands against us and bust our way out of this shitty world!"

Yue and Kaori held their hands up to their chests, as if carving Hajime's words into their own soul as well. Yue's deadpan expression crumbled, fading away to reveal the most beautiful smile in the world. Shizuku did the same thing, albeit she only held a single hand up to her chest while her other hand was stroking the upgraded Raikiri's handle. Kaori and Shizuku had a graceful and refined smile that spoke their confidence and resolution.

They answered with the same single syllable they used so far.

"""Yeah!"""

AN: Sorry, I held back the talk between Hajime and Shizuku and the lemons. The talk will appear later. Not sure for lemons thought. Anyway, the first arc is considered complete with this chapter. The next arc will show how different this story with the canon. Don't forget to review!