Haruto stepped back, waving his hands frantically. "Umm... what?!"
Instantly, a chorus of shouting erupted from the rest of the group. "EH?!"
Marena blinked innocently, tilting her head. "Yes. Is there a problem?"
As Haruto tried to pull his hand away, she only tightened her grip, leaning in closer with a wounded look in her eyes. "Why? Am I not attractive enough for you?"
"It's not about being attractive!" Haruto protested, breaking out into a sweat. "I don't have time to worry about looks right out of nowhere!"
Marena's expression sharpened. "Oh? So you want to see my power instead?"
Before Haruto could clarify what he meant, Marena dropped her polite demeanor. She raised her hand, and a dense, suffocating aura of fierce purple and blood-red energy violently exploded outward, wrapping around her in a blinding tempest.
Suddenly, the night sky cracked open. Thousands upon thousands of massive, razor-sharp swords materialized out of thin air, blotting out the stars. Each blade pulsed with a terrifying, apocalyptic level of raw power.
"This is my true power," Marena stated calmly, gesturing to the endless armament hovering above them.
Haruto's jaw practically hit the floor. "You... you can summon swords?!"
"Not just summon them," Marena replied smoothly. "My divine authority allows me to harvest the soul of anyone I kill and forge it into a permanent sword for my arsenal."
Haruto stared at her, his voice trembling slightly. "B-By the way... exactly how many swords do you have in total?"
Marena tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... around twenty million. After that, I honestly stopped counting."
Silence descended on the clearing once more. Haruto and the rest of the party stood frozen, their jaws completely unhinged.
Twenty million?!
Marena tilted her head, noticing Haruto's stunned expression. "Oh? Are the swords not impressing you? Fine, let me show you something else."
She held out both hands, spreading her fingers wide. Instantly, ten distinct spheres of glowing, multi-colored aura materialized at the tip of each finger—ten completely different elemental energies.
Haruto stared, baffled. "Okay, what is that supposed to be?"
"Not only do I harvest their souls," Marena explained casually, "but I can also absorb and manipulate the unique magic of anyone I kill." She smirked. "Though, just showing them separately isn't very fun, is it?"
With a flick of her wrists, Marena threw her hands together, blending all ten opposing colored auras into a single, massive, swirling sphere of condensed energy. She crushed the sphere in her palms, letting the volatile magic ripple outward.
BOOM.
Every single one of the thousands of floating swords instantly ignited, wrapped in crackling, pitch-black aura. Marena spun around smoothly, shooting a sharp glance toward Daisy. "Hey, move aside."
Daisy quickly sidestepped out of the way. With a single, fluid motion, Marena swung her hand downward, unleashing a devastating horizontal slice.
A colossal wave of dark, cataclysmic energy tore through the air, hurtling forward and cleanly slicing a towering stone cliffside in the distance completely in half, leaving a smooth, mirror-like cut.
Haruto's jaw dropped even lower. He blinked, staring at the destroyed landscape. "...Okay, seriously. That is pretty impressive."
Marena beamed, dusting off her hands with a satisfied grin. "Oh, thanks! So... does that mean my marriage proposal is accepted now?"
With a snap of her fingers, the millions of floating swords and the leftover aura instantly vanished into thin air, leaving the moonlit clearing completely quiet once again.
Haruto crossed his arms, looking at her with a skeptical eye. "Hold on. Why do you even want to marry me out of nowhere?"
Marena sighed softly, her expression turning serious. "Like I said before, the Goddess of Death sent me here under the direct orders of the Goddess of Nothingness. They foresaw that you're going to end up taking control of this entire universe in the future."
She stepped a bit closer, holding up a finger to emphasize her point. "Once you do that, you'll need to teach me how to use the magic of Nothingness. With that power, I'll finally be able to open a stable portal and take me back to our home world—Earth."
Haruto raised an eyebrow, processing the explanation. "I see. Well, as far as reincarnations go, what was your life like on Earth before you ended up here?"
A bittersweet look crossed Marena's face. "Ah... back there, I was terminally ill. I wanted to beat death itself, but no matter what I did, I became completely paralyzed toward the end. I remember waking up in a hospital bed, barely able to move, thinking to myself... If this is how it's going to end, I'd rather just die and get a second chance."
She looked up at the night sky, a faint smile touching her lips. "I saw a shooting star streaking across the window and wished on it with everything I had. The next thing I knew, I woke up right here, standing before the Goddess of Death."
Haruto blinked, a mischievous grin suddenly slipping onto his face. "Wait... how old are you, anyway?"
Marena's cheerful demeanor instantly vanished. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am ninety-four years old."
Haruto let out a loud whistle, leaning back. "Whoa... another grandma!"
Before he could even finish laughing, Marena's face flushed with irritation. She lunged forward, grabbing the front of his collar and giving him a firm, playful shake. "Hey! Just call me by my name if you know what's good for you!"
Haruto chuckled, holding his hands up defensively. "Alright, alright, fine! Point taken!"
Haruto held up a hand, offering a reassuring smile. "Look, you can tag along with us and join the party, but I'm still not marrying you."
Marena's face fell instantly. "Oh? Wait, hold on, I have an idea."
With a confident snap of her fingers, a soft puff of magic surrounded her. A pair of fluffy black cat ears popped up on top of her head, and a long, sleek tail swished out from behind her. Her eyes sparkled mischievously as she struck a playful pose.
"If you marry me, you get a cat girl," Marena purred, tilting her head with a wide, winning grin. "Everyone knows Earthlings have a soft spot for cat-girl cuteness, right?"
Haruto blinked, staring at her in sheer disbelief. "Wait... aren't you a normal human?"
"Ahaha, well, yes!" Marena nodded cheerfully, swaying her tail. "I just asked the Goddess to modify my body a little bit before sending me down here."
Over by the transport van, Philo, Geeli, and Daisy stared at the scene with utterly bewildered, deadpan expressions. Professor Elara crossed her arms, looking deeply disappointed at the chaotic turn of events.
Lilith raised an eyebrow, walking over to inspect the new look. "Okay, what even is a cat-girl?"
Philo turned to Lilith, blinking. "Wait, didn't you know? She's basically a human reincarnation, but she altered her soul's template to sprout animal ears and a tail."
"And why would she do that?" Lilith asked, clearly amused.
"Because apparently, human males from Earth love this kind of stuff for some reason," Philo explained with a shrug.
Lilith let out a dry laugh, shaking her head. "Oh, classic."
Back in the center, Haruto's eyes locked onto the twitching black cat ears. He leaned in closer, his jaw slightly slack. "Wait... can I touch them?"
Marena's tail gave an excited wag. "Only if you agree to marry me!"
Without a single second of hesitation, Haruto's hand shot out. "Confirmed."
Before Haruto could even get his fingers close to the fluffy cat ears, Daisy suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Marena firmly by the collar and yanking her backward with a deadpan expression.
"Oh, absolutely not. We are not doing this right now," Daisy muttered, dragging the newly-minted cat girl away before turning to Philo. "Hey, get the scout plane ready and pack everyone inside. We can just fly back to Gampi City since you guys came from that direction anyway."
Haruto blinked, looking over at Daisy. "Wait, can we really just—"
"No buts," Daisy cut him off flatly, before glancing back at Marena. "Seriously? What was that?"
Marena rubbed the back of her neck, offering an awkward, sheepish grin. "Ahaha... Well, back on Earth, I used to be really into cosplay and anime culture. I just thought it'd be a fun touch to add when I got reincarnated!" She paused, her eyes widening slightly as a sudden realization hit her.
"Wait... these ears and tail are actually super sensitive, don't touch that spot!"
Before anyone could answer, a stray gust of wind brushed past Marena's newly formed tail, causing her to instantly yelp, her whole body shuddering as she scrambled backward in pure embarrassment.
The rest of the group stared at her in dead silence, the sheer absurdity of the situation finally sinking in.
"Alright, enough standing around," Philo sighed, shaking her head as she headed toward the scout plane. "Let's get moving before another weird event happens tonight."
With that, Philo took the wheel of the van in the plane while the rest of the party piled back into their respective transports, firing up the engines and preparing to head back toward Gampi City under the light of the three strange moons.
As everyone piled into the scout plane, the craft whirred to life, lifting off the blood-stained earth and ascending rapidly into the night sky. Within minutes, they smoothly docked and connected with the massive mother ship hovering above.
As soon as the boarding ramp hissed open, an elite all-female military squad stepped forward, snapping a crisp salute toward Daisy.
Daisy held up a hand, addressing her troops. "At ease, everyone. Hold your positions for now."
Amidst the commotion, Marena discreetly grabbed Haruto by the sleeve, sneaking away from the group and pulling him into a quiet, shadowed corner of the corridor.
"Okay, look, no marriage pressure right now," Marena whispered, crossing her arms with a slight pout, before her expression turned curious. "Anyway, you had a question, right? Ask away."
Haruto leaned against the bulkhead, studying her. "Yeah... you mentioned you were ninety-four years old and you like cosplay. Which century on Earth were you even from?"
"Around the 21st century, give or take," Marena replied casually.
Haruto's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, really? I'm a reincarnation from the 21st century too! But hold on... if you died ninety-odd years ago, wouldn't that put you way before my time?"
Marena corrected him with a soft sigh, holding up four fingers. "Ninety-four years ago, yes. But remember how time works across different dimensional layers? Down here in this universe, cosmic time moves radically faster. A hundred years in this realm can feel like barely a few days passing back on Earth."
"Ah, that makes sense," Haruto nodded, before a mischievous grin crept onto his face. "By the way... what happened to those cat ears you had earlier when I first saw you?"
Marena's cheeks flushed slightly. She reached up, tapping her head as a soft pop of magic flickered. Instantly, the fluffy black ears and tail reappeared. "I usually use a concealment filter to hide them so I don't draw unnecessary attention. But if you want..." She let the tail sway slightly, a playful glint in her eyes. "I can keep them on all the time just for you."
Haruto chuckled, glancing down at her. "Not bad. Say, what's your actual level right now anyway?"
"My level matches my age," Marena answered smoothly. "Level 94."
Haruto fell silent, a sudden wave of realization hitting him as he glanced back down the hallway toward the rest of the party. He calculated the levels of everyone he had gathered so far—Lilith, Ivory, Bellona, Lustra, Philo, Geeli, Serephin, and now Marena. Every single woman in his party was a powerhouse holding absurdly high stats.
Standing there in the quiet corridor, lost deep in thought, Haruto suddenly blinked as he realized just how terrifyingly stacked his traveling companion lineup had actually become.
Haruto stared at the twitching black cat ears on Marena's head, his resistance slowly crumbling. He cleared his throat. "Alright, fine. We need to get moving anyway. But you have to promise you won't throw a fit if I just... look."
Marena tilted her head, a sly grin spreading across her face as she leaned in closer. "Nope. No looking from a distance. If you want to see them up close, you promised you'd confirm the marriage first."
"Wait, I didn't mean—"
Before Haruto could pull back, his hand betrayed him. He couldn't help it; back on Earth, his ultimate fictional crush from an old video game had been a cat girl, and the temptation was simply too strong to resist. His hand shot out, his fingers gently brushing against the soft, velvety fur of her right ear.
The moment his skin made contact, Marena let out a sharp gasp, her entire body trembling violently from head to toe. Her face flushed a deep crimson, and her tail instantly puffed straight up.
Haruto froze, eyes wide. "Whoa... are you okay?!"
Marena caught her breath, her dark eyes locking onto his with a teasing, victorious glint. She stepped right up into his space, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips. "Too late now, hero. You touched them. That means by default, you have to marry me!"
Before Haruto could panic or stammer out an excuse, Marena burst into a melodic laugh, stepping back with a playful wink. "Relax, I'm just playing with you! Come on, let's head back to the main control deck before the others wonder where we disappeared to."
They walked back down the metallic corridor together, rejoining the rest of the party as the mothership's autopilot brought them deeper into the upper atmospheric layers of Gampi City.
As the sliding doors of the main command bridge hissed open, everyone stepped inside—only to stop dead in their tracks.
The vast control room was a chaotic spectacle. Thousands of massive holographic screens, floating data streams, and flickering tactical readouts illuminated the dark room with an eerie glow. Right in the center, standing before the primary console, was Daisy, furiously tapping away at the glowing panels.
Philo rubbed her eyes, letting out a massive yawn. "Okay, this command room looks way too intense for this hour. I'm going to find a room and go to sleep."
Daisy didn't even turn around, her fingers flying across the digital interface as she waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Just... please, nobody touch anything, and whatever you do, try not to panic at what you're about to see on these screens."