_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hestia: "Yue, want to join my Familia?"
Yue: "Is Alex in it?"
Hestia: "Of course. He's the captain."
Yue: "Then I'll join."
Miko Yotsuya: "Yue's attitude toward the captain feels… different."
Mikoto Misaka: "Didn't you watch the anime? Yue's totally the type to fall head over heels. Alex saved her, right? She probably fell for him just like in the original story."
Miko Yotsuya: "Wait, Captain, are you really going full scumbag mode?"
Hestia: "Alex, you big shameless flirt!"
Alex: "..."
Esdeath: "Next time we meet, I should drain you dry so you won't have the energy to chase other women."
Shinobu Kocho: "@Alex Since you're back, we need to have a long talk tonight."
Miko Yotsuya: "Hold on. Don't tell me you two are involved with him too?"
Mikoto Misaka: "Looks that way."
Saeko Busujima: "Now I'm curious. When did that happen?"
Kurumi Tokisaki: "When Alex went to the Akame ga Kill world, probably. As for Shinobu, he's been on a mission in the Demon Slayer world. Something must've happened."
Miko Yotsuya: "Captain, are you seriously collecting harem members every time you visit a new world?"
Alex: "I think you should stop talking."
Miko Yotsuya: "Oh? You can do it but can't take the heat?"
Hestia: "Waaah… Dear Alex… I was here first! You little vixens moved way too fast!"
Watching the conversation spiral out of control, Alex did the only sensible thing.
He closed the chat group.
The moment it shut down, he turned around and found Yue staring at him with quiet resentment.
He cleared his throat and pretended not to notice.
He genuinely had no idea how to deal with this.
Love triangles—no, battle royales—were things he'd only ever seen in anime.
Leaving his quarters, Alex took a walk around the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters. None of the Hashira were present.
So he went to see Kagaya Ubuyashiki.
Kagaya told him the Hashira had all gone to the Swordsmith Village. They'd evacuated the swordsmiths to safer locations and laid an ambush for Upper Rank Four and Upper Rank Five.
After hearing that, Alex wasn't worried.
With the Corps' current strength, any one of the Hashira could easily cut down an Upper Rank demon.
And this time, they'd moved together. That included the resurrected Flower Hashira, and even Yoriichi Tsugikuni from the Sengoku era.
Add in Tanjiro and his four companions, and the lineup was frankly absurd.
Even if all Twelve Kizuki showed up alongside Muzan himself, they'd get steamrolled.
Returning to his residence, Alex took out all the books Oscar Orcus had left behind from his Star Ring.
Most of them contained alchemical techniques and blueprints for various magical tools.
Thanks to that knowledge, he'd been able to craft storage rings.
Now, it was time to study properly and master everything.
He also had Yue teach him all the magic she knew.
Magic from the Arifureta world was no joke.
To speed things up, Alex went straight to the chat group's shop and purchased a new Authority:
The Grimoire of Chanted Spells.
Yes, another one of Marquis Voban's Authorities.
Honestly, Voban's Authorities were ridiculously practical.
The Grimoire of Chanted Spells had originally been seized from a heretical god of magic. It manifested as a black leather-bound book floating in midair.
Its ability?
To transcribe every form of magic that exists in the world into the grimoire—and allow the user to wield it freely.
In other words, with this Authority, there was no need to painstakingly learn spells.
If it was written in the book, it was mastered. Perfectly. Instantly.
Alex already knew quite a bit of magic.
But with the chat group connecting countless worlds, he would never run out of new systems to learn. There were simply too many magic-bearing worlds across the multiverse.
Learning them one by one would take forever.
With the Grimoire, he could skip the grind.
And he already had an idea about his future path.
Once he reached Level 10, he planned to condense a divine spark.
His intended godhood?
A Demon God.
The God of Magic.
For that goal, the Grimoire of Chanted Spells was essential. It might very well determine whether he could truly ascend.
After purchasing the Authority, his points dropped to 5,980.
Then he had Yue demonstrate every spell she knew, recording them all into the Grimoire.
In an instant—
He mastered them all.
Authorities were terrifying.
Three days later, the Hashira returned.
The ambush had been a complete success. Upper Rank Four and Upper Rank Five were eliminated with ease.
That brought the total of slain Twelve Kizuki to ten.
Only Upper Rank One, Kokushibo, and Upper Rank Two, Doma, remained.
Muzan's wings had been clipped.
Aside from those two, he only had Nakime and Kaigaku left to rely on.
Of course, Muzan could always create more demons with his blood.
But becoming one of the Twelve Kizuki required talent. Not everyone who received his blood could reach that level.
When Shinobu returned to headquarters, her eyes met Yue's.
Both women knew.
Neither said it outright.
But when they spoke, there was an unmistakable edge to their words.
Alex felt the pressure instantly. He couldn't stand being in the same room for more than a minute.
So he did what he did best.
He went into seclusion.
For the next month, he focused entirely on studying the knowledge he'd brought back from the Arifureta world.
The Hashira continued their daily training.
The rest of the Corps was dispatched across Japan, spreading out to search for any trace of the Infinity Castle.
Finally, one month later, a Corps member discovered it.
The news spread like wildfire.
The final assault was at hand.
At the same time, after a full month of study, Alex had completely mastered all of Oscar Orcus' knowledge.
When he emerged from seclusion, everyone was already waiting.
Seeing them gathered there, he simply smiled.
"Let's move. Our target is the Infinity Castle."
A cheer erupted.
And with burning excitement, they set off from headquarters.
"..."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________