Over half an hour later…
"…That's basically the situation over there."
After the various disturbances and minor incidents throughout the day had finally settled, Renjiro (Aether) had originally planned to return directly to the 50th floor of the dungeon to continue honing his melee skills under the Imperial Lord… which would also conveniently allow him to summarize the gains from the recent battles.
However, before that, he made a stop at the top floor of Babel Tower to brief his beautiful goddess sister on the crucial intelligence from the Large Tree Labyrinth Borderline Defense.
After listening to his report…
"I see… Hedin and Hogni were both defeated by you,"
Freya squinted her eyes slightly, sighing. "Tell me, if they knew your true favor level, what would they think?"
Facing this question…
Now's not the time to tease your own sister, Aether, Renjiro thought.
"Don't worry about that, elder sister," he said with a helpless shrug. "Besides, 'I'm not allowed to reveal my true identity'… that was your rule, after all."
"Though… broadly speaking, it aligns with my own thinking."
Hearing him say that…
"Heh~"
Freya let out a light chuckle but didn't continue teasing him.
Both of them knew very well that a Lv.2 adventurer rookie, not only capable of transforming into Lv.4 via bug magic, but also able to summon multiple allies of equivalent combat strength… and with all their base stats absurdly high, capable of overleveled challenges…
Just imagining this kind of magic already signals immense trouble and hidden risks.
Originally, Freya had planned to separate the Twin Stars and Renjiro entirely, keeping the attention of outsiders focused on the siblings.
To do this, she had employed her long-suppressed Freija familia influence as a cover.
Her recent departure from Babel Tower had been to make the final preparations for this arrangement.
Yet her little brother clearly had his own plans.
Well, at times like this, letting him indulge in a little mischief as his elder sister isn't exactly harmful.
At worst… I'll just clean up afterward.
With that in mind…
"So, what's your plan next?"
From Freya's perspective, the greatest threat to them currently was undoubtedly Antares, a deity-consuming entity.
The only creature powerful enough to rival the One-Eyed Black Dragon, she had no means of handling it.
After all, it was an ultimate calamity hidden in the annals of history, capable of intimidating the entire lower world.
So…
"Well… I plan to remove the teleport anchor on the 39th floor and instead set one up at the Large Tree Labyrinth Borderline Defense."
Renjiro didn't hide his next steps. "Right now, my true self is only at Lv.2 favor, and none of my base abilities have reached 'd' or higher, so I don't meet the minimum requirements for achieving a 'great work.'"
"Additionally, my second growth stage hasn't reached its limit, Barbara's javelin technique hasn't been mastered, and both Lumine and I need more time to continue refining melee skills… there's still a lot of preparation left."
"Taking all of that into account, I'll find time tomorrow to speak with Goddess Artemis, confirm how long she can maintain her current state, and estimate the remaining usable time."
"After that, on a larger scale, we maintain the stability of the border defense while also sending people to investigate the conditions within the Kaios Desert."
"As for me personally… I need to complete all preparatory work in the shortest possible time."
"At the very least, I can't face Antares without a plan."
At this point…
"I see."
Freya understood Renjiro's intent. "You want to maximize your side's chance of victory while treating the subjugation of Antares as your next great work, correct?"
"Yes."
Renjiro nodded. "So before the battle begins, I'll need to update my ability stats with you."
"Given this plan, the Starfire's Flowing Light magic must be disabled for a period, which naturally means I can't rely on the 'Statue of The Seven' skill for long-range teleportation."
He had thought through every detail carefully.
However…
"In the black market, there's a forbidden item called the Update Potion that can directly update a god's favor ability stats without the deity being present," Freya mentioned.
"However, it only affects base abilities and cannot unlock newly awakened skills or magic."
"Moreover…"
She furrowed her brow. "Neither I nor Ciel went to the Large Tree Labyrinth, so there's no one trustworthy left to update your stats."
Clearly, Freya didn't want others to know about Renjiro's true nature.
Even Ottar, a reliable warrior of her familia, only knew of his existence, not the details of his ability stats.
So…
"Then follow your plan," Freya said after some hesitation, sighing lightly. "If you can't take even this small gamble, then what kind of god would you be?"
"Just remember," she continued, speaking from years of experience not common to youth, "preparation alone isn't enough. Your enemies will not slack off either."
"I understand," Renjiro replied, nodding. "That's why I'm accelerating my preparations as much as possible…"
"No, you didn't understand me," Freya said with a small sigh. "I mean… just preparing isn't enough to overcome every challenge."
"You also need to seize the right timing."
"Otherwise, once the opportunity passes, even the best preparation is wasted."
"Got it?"
The next day, 4:00 a.m…
Having temporarily disabled the teleport anchor on the 39th floor, Renjiro returned to the 50th floor to continue melee training with the Imperial Lord.
Lumine, fully exploiting her energy being's no need for sleep trait, diligently practiced the parallel incantation technique she learned from Luna.
She also used the high-intensity mana recovery buff from the Stellar Abyss on the 50th floor, summoning Barbara to help her master the javelin.
Meanwhile, Goddess Artemis was resting, leaving their training uninterrupted.
When the daily "three summon" opportunities refreshed…
[Debate Club | ☆☆☆]
[Traveler's Handy Sword | ☆☆☆]
[Sword of Descension | ☆☆☆☆]
"Hmm?"
The newly acquired four-star weapon immediately caught Renjiro's attention.