He also realized that his own powers were significantly diminished here.
That feeling of omnipotence was gone.
Replaced by his actual abilities.
It had been a long time since he felt this grounded.
But he didn't mind.
His current strength should still be enough.
No one knew what Shiroyasha and Aha discussed next.
Soon, Aha wandered off to explore the Little Garden.
Shiroyasha: [Aha's not bad. He may not have Divine Class, but his strength is still solid. As long as none of the double-digits interfere, he can roam freely.]
Shiroyasha updated Takumi in the group chat.
Reading her message, Takumi became interested.
Takumi: [So Star Gods retain that much power over there? As long as the double-digits don't act, he's fine? So he's around triple-digit or borderline tier without Divine Class? That's impressive.]
Shiroyasha: [Exactly. His inherent power is formidable. So it doesn't really matter if he lacks a Divine Class.]
She understood it well. She had seen Aha's strength firsthand.
Takumi: [Then Star Gods really are quite powerful. If they officially crossed over, they might all gain Divine Class statuses.]
Shiroyasha: [Who knows? But crossing over officially is tough. No invitations, and the distance is vast.]
The two chatted for a while in the group.
Takumi didn't worry much about it.
First came the God of War, now Aha.
The Little Garden must be lively by now.
Still, Takumi wasn't all that interested in going to watch the chaos.
After chatting for a bit more, he called it a night.
The next day, those who went on missions started to return.
The first group back was, of course, Fujiwara Chika and company.
Defeating Muzan Kibutsuji was no big deal for her now.
But when they returned, Takumi was shocked to see just who and how many they brought back.
Not just the members from their group chat
Fujiwara Chika and the others had brought back a whole crowd.
Seeing them all return, Takumi was speechless.
Good grief, he thought only five people went.
Turned out they brought a whole crew for the experience.
Chapter 402: Who Told Them to Look at Me? They Must Be Crazy
For this mission, Fujiwara Chika brought along Shinomiya Kaguya and Hayasaka Ai.
Then Katou Megumi brought Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha.
Asuna also brought Yuki with her.
With such combat power, they could absolutely steamroll that world.
"It was supposed to be a five-person mission, and you all brought so many people to gang up on the enemy?"
Takumi didn't even know how to complain.
And to top it off, they returned with a whole group of people.
Fujiwara Chika responded confidently:
"Everyone needs combat experience anyway, so I brought them all. I'm not the only one. The others brought many people too. Juna probably brought Rias and the rest with her."
That ten-person mission had even more people. And there was another mission where Ais surely brought considerable firepower too.
Since Takumi and the top-level members wouldn't interfere, bringing extra hands ensured a smoother experience.
Plus, it served as training.
Hearing this, Takumi could only smile wryly.
"Fine. As long as you're all happy."
He then turned his attention to the members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Seeing Takumi, they immediately bowed in respect.
Looking at these figures he had only seen in anime before, Takumi greeted them:
"Welcome to my world. You're one of us now. I can assign you a territory. You can settle there or live in the city."
Takumi didn't have anything special planned for them. How they chose to live was up to them.
Breathing techniques had their limits. If they wanted to become stronger, they would have to study what Takumi's world offered.
"Thank you!"
Hearing this, the Demon Slayer Corps members quickly expressed their gratitude.
This arrangement was already quite generous.
Before coming, Fujiwara Chika had briefed them about this world. So they already had a basic understanding.
Takumi offering them land meant they could build their own village. The breathing techniques would be passed down and possibly improved further.
After arranging everything for the Demon Slayers, Takumi had his mechanical troops escort them to their new home.
Housing and infrastructure would be built soon.
Once that was handled, Takumi turned back to the girls.
"Are you staying for dinner or heading home?"
Fujiwara Chika raised a brow and replied,
"Going home, of course. We need to report in. Can't have our families worried."
Their parents were in this world too. Since they had gone out on a mission, it made sense to check in now that they were back.
The others nodded in agreement.
Indeed. Since they had returned, they needed to report home.
Takumi didn't try to stop them. He opened a spatial portal to let them return.
They said their goodbyes and went back.
After sending them off, Takumi looked into the group chat.
Takumi: [@Bronya, how's your mission going?]
Their mission had something to do with sealing an underworld invasion, right?
Still not done?
Bronya: [Currently sealing the underworld's entrance. Almost done.]
Lala: [Almost there! Just a few more hours!]
Kurumi: [Good thing we brought Sawa along. Otherwise, we would have struggled with all the space-related stuff.]
Kurumi sighed in relief. It was their first mission, and thank goodness someone who could manipulate space came along.
Otherwise, it would have been troublesome.
Raiden Mei: [If I had known, I would've brought Sirin instead. Didn't expect we'd need to seal off space.]
They hadn't anticipated that kind of complication. If she had, she would've brought Sirin instead of just Kiana.
Takumi: [Emm... must have been tough for you guys. But since it's all under control, that's good.]
[@Nyaruko, how are things on your end?]
It seemed that Nyaruko's team was the last one still in progress. They had also brought the most people.
Seeing herself tagged, Nyaruko popped up.
Nyaruko: [Thanks for asking. Just stopped Kaguya from restarting the world again.]
[This world has way too many goblins. We're trying our best.]
[Oh, and I picked up a young saintess who just started her journey.]
[Picture]
She posted an image. A young saintess, no more than thirteen or fourteen.
Takumi froze when he saw the picture.
Just thirteen or fourteen, huh. He understood now.
He also realized why Nyaruko mentioned a world reset.
Kaguya must have figured out what kind of world they were in, which triggered her fury.
Houraisan Kaguya: [Damn it!!] [Why can't we just reset time and solve everything? Why must we hack away at those disgusting creatures one by one?!]
Kaguya was raging.
Just the sight of goblins now made her want to vomit.
It was absurd.
Why not just reset the world?
Nyaruko: [Are you kidding? If you reset it, how are we supposed to play? You won't be able to finish the mission that way.]
Did she even think about what she was saying?
If she reset the world, did she think its gods would just stand by and watch?
Even if those gods were already insane.
Seeing her caused them to go insane.
But Nyaruko swore she didn't do it on purpose.
It wasn't her fault they decided to look at her.
Takumi: [Finish the mission soon and come back. I'm off to eat.]
With that, he closed the group chat.
He couldn't be bothered with the chaos anymore.
Time to enjoy dinner.
Later that evening, Bronya and her team returned as well.
She headed straight home.
Seeing her return, Takumi couldn't help but ask,
"Did you bring anyone back this time?"
Bronya nodded.
"Yup. Brought a few people back. We were already there, so might as well. Can't come back empty-handed, right?"
She gave Takumi a mischievous smile.
Spending so much time with Takumi had taught her well.
Hearing this, Takumi was a little speechless.
Good grief, even she had picked up that attitude now.
"Go take a bath. I'll cook something for you."
With that, Takumi went into the kitchen.
Bronya headed to clean up.
These past few days had been hectic, and she hadn't had a proper wash.
Now that she was home, it was time to really clean up.
Sure, the combat armor Takumi designed had automatic sanitation functions, but it was never as satisfying as a proper bath.
When you're busy, you don't notice it. But once you have free time, it suddenly becomes uncomfortable.
That was how it was for many people.
When you're occupied, you don't care. But the moment things slow down, going without a shower feels unbearable.
Chapter 403: Searching for a Needle in the Sea?
After Bronya finished washing up, she came out for dinner.
As she ate, she recounted the events of her recent mission.
"All the recent missions we've taken seem to come from worlds where the plot isn't following its original path. I wonder if something's wrong. If everything had gone according to the script, the things we faced wouldn't have happened."
As she spoke, Bronya voiced the confusion in her heart.
Something felt off. The storyline-based missions weren't following the source material anymore.
Takumi nodded at her observation.
"I noticed it too. All three of your recent missions were like that. Chika's group was assigned to defeat Muzan, yours was a demon realm invasion, and Nyaruko's world had goblins overrunning everything. Something's definitely strange."
He rubbed his chin, deeply puzzled.
Why were these things happening?
No one really knew.
But judging from the mission content, these worlds weren't fixed or unchanging.
"Maybe something unusual is happening across the multiverse," he mused. "It's impossible to say for sure."
Bronya shook her head. These were things beyond their understanding.
"Maybe I should go beyond the world and take a look. I have time anyway, and nothing urgent to do. Might as well go for a stroll."
Takumi rubbed his chin again. With little else on his plate, it might be worth taking a look beyond the bounds of the known worlds.
Perhaps he could find other worlds adjacent to his own.
Bronya blinked in surprise.
"Won't it be dangerous?"
Heading outside the world?
She was immediately worried.
Wouldn't that be extremely risky?
"Of course there's danger, but nothing I can't handle. Worst case, I jump to another world and escape."
Takumi wasn't that concerned.
If he met something he couldn't beat, he'd just flee.
The chat group was incredibly high-level.
It had already made him this powerful, so its capabilities had to be immenseperhaps not even at their limit.
As long as he had points, he could keep strengthening himself.
Just thinking about it showed how terrifying the group truly was.
Hearing his confidence, Bronya no longer pressed the issue.
"Alright then. Just be careful."
Since he was determined, there wasn't much else she could say.
And Takumi was rightif he ran into trouble, he could escape to another world.
With the ability to cross worlds at will, the danger was relatively manageable.
Having accepted that, Bronya said no more.
After eating, she followed Takumi to rest for the night.
The next day, Bronya stayed home to relax.
Meanwhile, Takumi set out beyond the world.
This time, acting on a sudden impulse, he went alone.
No companions. Just himself.
First, he arrived at the dimensional rift.
Opening a portal, Takumi entered the empty space between dimensions.
He then headed toward the magic formations he had set up earlier.
With Ophis no longer here, the place felt deserted.
There used to be an adorable dragon floating around here. Now, nothing.
He wondered how she was doing since returning home.
After confirming no one else had visited, Takumi moved beyond the world itself.
Arriving outside, he surveyed the scene.
Numerous world spheres began orbiting Takumi's world.
Like satellites, these worlds now circled around his, following fixed trajectories.
Watching them, Takumi couldn't help but sigh.
The people in those worlds probably had no idea.
Their worlds had already drifted near his.
And they entered his world through portals.
After surveying the area, Takumi confirmed that all connected worlds had gathered.
As a result, his world had grown even larger due to the gravitational pull of the others.
It seemed to be expanding again.
Noticing this, Takumi mused quietly.
Who knew how massive it would get in the future?
He shook his head, brushing the thought aside.
Then he flew toward the void.
Leaving his world behind, he entered a vast emptiness.
It was like flying through outer space.
Only, no other worlds were in sight.
This kind of travel quickly became boring.
After thinking a moment, Takumi assessed the environment.
Then he made a decision.
He would build a small spacecraft and fly it himself.
Some crafts could indeed function in this void.
The hardest part was leaving your own world and escaping the transitional dimension.
Once that was done, flying here became easy.
With that thought, Takumi created a space-jumping aircraft.
Once it was complete, he climbed aboard.
"Prometheus, keep a constant scan. Notify me if you detect a world. Engage maximum speed."
The craft was powered by a perpetual engine.
"Understood," Prometheus replied.
With that, the craft initiated a spatial jump.
It surged forward into the void.
Meanwhile, Takumi opened a livestream in the chat group.
Seeing this, many group members grew curious.
What was Takumi up to now?
Why the livestream?
As soon as they entered, they saw him traveling steadily forward.
The chat buzzed with questions.
Fujiwara Chika: [Where are you going?!]
She didn't get it.
This shut-in Takumi had actually gone out?
Shiroyasha: [In the void? Are you trying to find other worlds?]
Seeing the stream, Shiroyasha immediately caught on.
Takumi had left his world.
"That's right. Just out for a little walk. Seeing if I can find a few new worlds."
He made no effort to hide it.
Upon hearing this, Shiroyasha was speechless.
That sounded extremely difficult.
It was like searching for a needle in the ocean.
Shiroyasha: [Searching in the void is like finding a needle in the sea. You could search for decades, even centuries, and still not find a single world. Some have tried.]
