Upon receiving Ren Isana's transmission, Asuna immediately understood what needed to be done. Without a moment's hesitation, she @ed Kojou Akatsuki in the group chat, telling him to activate his mark and return to their home world at once.
The rest of the classmates saw the notification instantly. As soon as the message appeared, everyone began piping up, urgently @ing Kojou to hurry back. After all, this was no laughing matter.
Seeing the flurry of messages, Kojou Akatsuki quickly sent a brief reply to the group. He then activated the [Spatial Mark] on his body and vanished from that world in an instant.
"It's done. He's already gone back," Asuna said to Ren Isana as soon as she saw that Kojou Akatsuki had officially logged off.
Ren Isana nodded at the news. What happened next was none of his concern; Natsuki Minamiya would naturally handle whatever issues that boy was facing.
At the same time, Ren Isana couldn't help but warn Asuna, "Keep a close eye on that True Ancestor beside you. Her strength is quite terrifying. If she ever gets hit by her bloodlust, make sure you run far away so she doesn't try to feed on you!"
Thinking of Arcueid, Ren Isana made sure to give Asuna this piece of advice. While being turned into a Dead Apostle by someone like Arcueid might not be the worst fate, he really didn't want to find out just how painful those sharp fangs could be.
The warning was necessary, but as Asuna heard Ren Isana's words, she couldn't help but glance at Arcueid. This somewhat ditsy True Ancestor was someone she would definitely stay wary of, so there wasn't too much to worry about.
If any real trouble arose, she would simply activate her mark and return home immediately. The other classmates felt the same way; everyone prioritized their own safety above all else.
Kojou Akatsuki was the outlier. Who told him to spawn right in the middle of a vampire's territory? To end up being turned into a Dead Apostle right at the start... all one could say was that he had terrible luck. Fortunately, the other students hadn't encountered anything like that.
Most importantly, that vampire was a True Ancestor—a being on the same level as Arcueid. Even Arcueid herself didn't know exactly who that person was, as most True Ancestors had long since perished.
After chatting with Asuna for a while, Ren Isana hung up and settled in to rest. Tomorrow, he still had to forge his [Noble Phantasm].
While Ren Isana was resting, Natsuki Minamiya reached her destination. She looked at the dejected Kojou Akatsuki and said, "You've got some rotten luck, kid. Come on, I'll take you back first."
Kojou Akatsuki was clearly feeling very depressed and looked quite haggard. Suddenly ceasing to be human was something that took a lot of getting used to, and as a result, he couldn't muster an ounce of energy.
Natsuki Minamiya turned and headed outside, with Kojou Akatsuki hurrying to follow. He couldn't help but ask, "Natsuki-sensei, is there any hope for someone like me?"
That vampiric urge was truly unbearable. If possible, he desperately wished he could become human again. Even if he couldn't, he at least wanted to stop hating the sun and get rid of that damn bloodlust.
"It's not a huge issue, but turning you back into a human is impossible. We have a fair amount of research on vampires, though. We can help you eliminate some of the drawbacks. We'll start with a check-up," Natsuki Minamiya said. As they stepped out of the anti-magic building, chains suddenly manifested out of thin air and bound Kojou Akatsuki tightly.
Kojou Akatsuki was stunned by the sight. What was the meaning of this? Before he could ask, Natsuki Minamiya spoke again.
"Just to prevent you from going [Berserk] or anything like that, I'm tying you up first!"
Kojou Akatsuki felt helpless but didn't argue. He simply nodded and allowed Natsuki Minamiya to keep him bound as she led him directly into a specialized facility.
Once they arrived, Kojou Akatsuki was checked in. He assumed a long series of treatments awaited him; after all, a vampire with an active bloodlust was simply too dangerous to leave alone.
Natsuki Minamiya left him there once the drop-off was complete. Someone would come to run tests the next day and make the necessary arrangements. She knew perfectly well that professional matters should be left to the professionals.
Ren Isana didn't bother following up on Kojou's situation. After a quiet night, he woke up and finished his morning routine before heading to Maya's shop. Since it was early morning, there were very few customers.
However, Tsubaki and the others had already started their shifts. Ren Isana also spotted someone he expected to see—the goddess Hephaestus-sama. She had actually come here as well? Moreover, she seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation with Maya.
Recalling what Hestia-sama had said about their worlds merging, it seemed some of the gods had indeed migrated to this world.
Hephaestus-sama sensed Ren Isana immediately. When she saw him, she was momentarily stunned, unable to believe her eyes. "Wait... you little brat from Hestia's Familia... how did you become a God Slayer?"
Even from a distance, she could feel an aura coming from him that made her skin crawl. What was with this guy? She hadn't seen him for a while, and now he was a God Slayer?
Furthermore, his strength had become incredibly formidable. He hadn't carried this kind of aura back when he killed Apollo, had he? There was no divine curse from a god on him either, so what was with this aura that was triggering her internal alarms so violently?
"Do all of you gods have such sensitive noses? I just got here and you already sensed it?" Ren Isana asked, looking at Hephaestus-sama with a puzzled expression. He shouldn't have been leaking any of his aura.
"Don't give me that. Even if your aura isn't leaking, the scent of someone who just recently slew a god is impossible to hide. And it's a god related to the sun? It's not Apollo, so who else did you kill?" Hephaestus-sama asked, her brow furrowing as she studied Ren Isana.
This kid was becoming far too ridiculous. It felt like this scent had only been acquired yesterday. He was becoming more dangerous by the day; she wasn't sure if Hestia-sama staying with him was a good thing or a bad thing anymore.
"Oh, that? It was a god from a neighboring world. The gods of that world descend in the form of disasters. I killed three of them yesterday," Ren Isana explained. He realized now that it wasn't his own power leaking.
Instead, it was the lingering scent of his recent God Slayer deeds that was making Hephaestus-sama bristle, much like a kitten that senses danger.
Hearing Ren Isana's explanation, a flash of surprise crossed Hephaestus-sama's eyes. Maya, standing nearby, offered a smile and added, "I know about that world. It's true—the gods there are known as Heretic Gods..."
Maya gave Hephaestus-sama a brief explanation of the situation in that world. Once she understood the context, Hephaestus-sama finally had her epiphany.
"Tch, you learn something new every day. But... you'd better be careful from now on. If you've just finished slaying a god, it's best not to go loitering in front of other deities!" Hephaestus-sama warned Ren Isana with a solemn expression.
It was a good thing he had run into her. If it had been any other god, they would have likely bristled and started a fight with Ren Isana. After all, he was a God Slayer, and some gods took that very personally.
"Next time for sure. Maya, I'd like to borrow your furnace. I need to perform an Ascension on my weapon." Ren Isana greeted Maya and then headed straight toward the back.
Maya's interest was piqued by Ren Isana's words. Performing an Ascension on his weapon? Was it the one he always used? Could that weapon even be upgraded further? The thought made Maya quite curious.
She stood up and said to Hephaestus-sama, "Hephaestus-sama, let's go take a look together. It looks like Little Ren has probably found some new forging technique; otherwise, he wouldn't be touching his own weapon."
Maya began walking toward the back as she spoke. Hephaestus-sama was equally curious and followed closely. She had only arrived here yesterday, and the Hephaestus Familia was now fully partnered with Maya.
The two were essentially business partners. Tsubaki had already briefed her on everything they had experienced since coming to this world. Maya had been a huge help to them; having such a partner in this world was quite a stroke of luck.
Ren Isana arrived in the forging room and greeted Tsubaki and the others. He found an unused furnace and began pulling out materials to arrange them, though he didn't ignite the fire immediately.
Instead, he began drawing on the furnace, sketching out intricate lines of magic circuitry. This sight surprised both Maya and Hephaestus-sama as they walked in.
Hephaestus-sama in particular looked at the designs Ren Isana was sketching with curiosity. They looked somewhat familiar, yet felt entirely alien. Maya didn't share her hesitation; she walked right up and asked, "Little Ren, have you found something good again?"
Ren Isana didn't even look back as he answered Maya's question. "Yeah. In that new world, I found a way to let my weapon undergo Ascension into a [Noble Phantasm]. I was practically kicked out of there just for getting my hands on this stuff."
Maya's interest surged at those words. she began asking Ren Isana about the details of these so-called [Noble Phantasms]. Ren Isana answered all of Maya's questions, and as the explanation continued, Hephaestus-sama, who was listening from the side, finally began to understand.
"But if that's the case, an ordinary weapon wouldn't be able to undergo Ascension, would it? Just like in our world, it would require deeds!" Hephaestus-sama voiced her thoughts.
"Exactly. That's why I went over there yesterday to find a few Heretic Gods to kill!" Since he needed to upgrade his weapon, he went out and slew a god—it was perfectly logical in his mind.
Hephaestus-sama was momentarily stunned by Ren Isana's casual statement. The gods of that world were truly unlucky to have become nothing more than nourishment for Ren Isana's progress. But if that was the case, the weapon Ren Isana was about to forge would be something truly extraordinary.
"What a shame. It looks like this kind of thing is destined to never be common. Most people's weapons wouldn't even qualify!" Maya said with a hint of regret after understanding the requirements.
Without noteworthy deeds, an upgraded weapon was useless—assuming it could even be upgraded in the first place. This meant that [Noble Phantasms] were destined to only exist in the hands of a select few. At the same time, she was truly looking forward to seeing exactly what kind of [Noble Phantasm] Ren Isana was about to create.