Shielding the past and the future, standing independent from the dimensions of fate and time—this meant that situations like going back to the past to attack a weaker version of him were no longer possible.
Moreover, due to the bond of affection, his fate was intertwined with that of the girls. The higher the affection level, the deeper that entanglement became.
From the perspective of fate, girls with maxed-out affection could essentially be regarded as one with him.
Therefore, the immunity to observation and interference also applied to the girls who shared an especially close relationship with him.
As for the enhancement to fate- and causality-type abilities afterward… well, the only related ability Nolan currently possessed was Mona's Affection Skill.
"The Magus of Mocking Fate" likewise protected him on the level of fate. Essentially, any fate- or causality-type abilities below the combined level of the two parties were completely ineffective against him and the girls.
Unfortunately, the "The Magus of Mocking Fate" fate substitute couldn't block time-based attacks. This time, Kujou Sara's Affection Skill neatly made up for that shortcoming.
That said, Nolan could actively control the "The Magus of Mocking Fate" to interfere with fate and strike back. With the boost to fate-based abilities provided by Sara's Affection Skill, it further enhanced the substitute's overall performance—a significant upgrade.
With his current mastery over fate and causality, he was basically unafraid of any related abilities.
The final effect of Crow Feathers Veil the Sun—attacks not suffering causal backlash—was roughly equivalent to the concept in xianxia stories of killing without accruing karmic retribution.
In the vast workings of the universe, some lives or objects were favored by fortune, possessing strong destinies. If someone relied on overwhelming power to kill or destroy such beings or objects—
Without the ability to avoid causality, misfortune would inevitably follow. At best, one would become unlucky, with everything going wrong; at worst, one would be slain by someone stronger or simply erased by a backlash of fate.
Thanks to this effect, Nolan no longer needed to worry about accidentally killing some bizarre creature favored by destiny while farming Adventure EXP.
At this moment, Kujou Sara also noticed that she had gained a new ability. She froze slightly—this seemed to indicate that her affection for Nolan had reached a certain level.
Thinking of that, she felt her cheeks grow a little warm. Even though she had already taken the initiative to kiss Nolan, she still couldn't help feeling shy.
Nolan also noticed that Sara seemed a bit dazed, so he reached out. Kujou Sara's body stiffened; for a moment she didn't know how to react, and could only let Nolan do as he pleased.
Beside them, Kamisato Ayaka watched as Kujou Sara pushed her aside and kissed Nolan passionately. Embarrassed and annoyed, Ayaka puffed out her slightly reddened cheeks.
She pursed her lips and leaned in as well, trying to squeeze Sara aside.
But Sara was already prepared. When Ayaka tried to push her away, she simply bit down on Nolan, remaining unmoved.
Ayaka wasn't about to retreat over such a small obstacle. Instead, she hugged Nolan as well—kissing him while also kissing Sara.
"…"
Feeling a bit of pain, Nolan was left momentarily speechless.
Once feelings were laid bare and the two girls dropped their reserve and became bolder, their jealousy flared up—and he was the one suffering for it.
After thinking for a moment, Nolan opened a doorway to the Wonderland Space beneath them. In an instant, they fell downward and vanished from the teahouse's private room.
Wonderland Space—Nolan's bedroom.
On the pristine white bed, several figures dropped from a height of a few centimeters and landed directly on the soft blankets.
"Hm?"
Ayaka and Sara noticed the change and were momentarily startled. Nolan smiled and explained, "Don't worry, this is my room."
"Oh… I see."
The two of them let out small sighs of relief. Nothing unexpected had happened—they had merely arrived in Nolan's room.
Then it hit them. Weren't they just in the teahouse a moment ago? How had they ended up in… a room? Realizing what that implied, the two girls—who had just adapted to kissing and calmed their emotions—blushed once more, rapidly.
"Is this okay?"
Nolan wrapped an arm around each of them, kissed them on the lips one after the other, and then asked with a burning gaze.
"Isn't this… a little too fast…?"
Ayaka lay on her side beside him, her neatly trimmed bangs brushing against his shoulder as she spoke softly, her face red.
"Since we're lovers now, and we've already kissed, then becoming even more intimate is only natural, isn't it?"
Nolan said as he looked at the two of them.
Now that feelings had been confessed, followed by close embraces and passionate kisses, things were naturally at their most heated. Of course he had to seize this opportunity to take the next step.
Otherwise, once Ayaka's and Sara's passion cooled, finding a chance to get close like this wouldn't be so easy.
"…Mm."
Ayaka's cheeks grew even redder.
"Silence means consent!" Nolan chuckled, then turned to look at Sara. "What about you?"
"Hmph."
Kujou Sara, her face just as flushed, directly rolled over and pressed herself on top of him, lowering her head to continue kissing him passionately.
She answered with actions rather than words.
In response, Nolan acted as well.
He wrapped his arms around Sara's back, sliding his hands beneath her mantle to caress the back wrapped by the black, form-fitting vest.
The gentle curves of her shoulder blades flowed beneath his fingertips.
After a short while, Nolan undid her white mantle, revealing Sara's upper body clad in the black tight vest.
She pressed against his chest, and the chest beneath the taut black fabric flattened and rounded.
Grasping the hem of the black vest, Nolan gently pulled it upward. Her snow-white back gradually came into view from below.
When her abdomen was fully revealed and a soft curve of pale skin appeared above, he stopped pulling further.
Half-hidden was more alluring in its own way.
Next, Nolan's hands moved to Sara's hips, gently kneading them before untying the sash of her long skirt and pushing it back behind her legs.
The black triangular shorts hugging her hips and her snow-white thighs were revealed.
Sliding his hand along the edge of her hips and into the black shorts, a few minutes later he slowly pushed them down along her pale thighs.
Half an hour later, Kujou Sara—wearing only a black form-fitting vest pulled down to her collarbones—rolled off Nolan, covering her chest as she panted softly.
Nolan looked at her with amusement. They had already been so intimate, yet she was still shy enough to cover herself—there was something charming about that.
He then turned his gaze to Kamisato Ayaka on his left.
Her fair cheeks were flushed, her eyes hazy. Clearly, her body had grown heated as well.
Nolan first removed Ayaka's dress, revealing her body clad in a white fitted top and white triangular shorts that had darkened noticeably.
Under Nolan's gaze, Ayaka instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, bending her left leg slightly to try to hide the white shorts.
Nolan gently grasped her pale feet, setting them on his lower abdomen, and slowly kneaded her shapely calves.
Nolan gently held her fair feet, letting her rest them against his lower abdomen, slowly kneading her shapely calves.
After more than ten minutes, Nolan set her pale feet down, gently parted her legs, then leaned forward and pulled the white shorts aside.
Interlacing his fingers with Ayaka's, he pressed his body down and kissed her lips.
By the time the three of them left the room to soak in the hot springs, more than three hours had passed, and dusk was already approaching nightfall.
In the bathhouse, Nolan continued training with Ayaka and Sara for a while, then invited them to stay in the Wonderland Space.
They were already lovers now, and they had been intimately close together, so Ayaka and Sara didn't hesitate much before agreeing.
After all, it was simply changing where they slept—there would be no impact on their usual work.
Moreover, living together with Nolan would make intimate training far more convenient, which was naturally a very good thing.
After bathing, Nolan returned to Inazuma City with Ayaka and Sara, first stopping by the teahouse.
Mainly because they had vanished from the private room for several hours, it was still necessary to inform the Komore Teahouse staff, so they wouldn't think something unexpected had happened.
Besides, they still hadn't paid for the afternoon tea. Leaving without settling the bill felt a bit improper, even though the place was part of the Kamisato family's businesses.
As for the explanation, saying that an urgent matter had come up and they had to leave, and that they were now back to settle the bill, was more than sufficient—no need to explain further.
After paying for the afternoon tea, Nolan went with Ayaka and Sara to buy furniture and daily necessities they would need after moving into the Wonderland Space.
By the time the shopping was finished and two new rooms had been prepared for Ayaka and Sara, it was already time for dinner.
That evening, everyone in the Wonderland Space returned from work, and Nolan took the opportunity to introduce everyone to one another.
In such a short time, several more girls had moved into the Wonderland Space, so it was only natural that everyone should get properly acquainted.
After dinner and a short rest, Nolan continued training with Ayaka, Sara, Collei, Yanfei, Xiangling, Beidou, and the others.
Since Ayaka and Sara had just moved in, they needed some time to catch up with everyone else in terms of progress. Moreover, as newcomers in the midst of a passionate relationship with Nolan, they naturally needed a bit of extra attention.
The next morning, just after getting up, Nolan trained together with Rosaria, who had just returned from a night shift, and Tingyun, who had come back during her midday break.
With a time difference of over five hours, when it was six or seven in the morning in Teyvat, it was already noon over in the Xianzhou Alliance.
After several more days passed like this, the girls who had recently moved into the Wonderland Space all improved very quickly, with most of them already reaching Level 90 or above.
The main reason was that Nolan himself was already over Level 120, and the quality of the harmonized energy he provided was much higher than that of the girls, greatly increasing the efficiency of their growth.
At present, in the Wonderland Space, aside from beings like Ei who were originally gods, many of the girls had already broken past Level 100.
Such as Yae Miko, Xianyun, Ganyu, Lumine, and others.
As for Fischl, Sucrose, Eula, Amber, Mona, Jean, Ningguang, and the rest, they were close as well—aside from the girls who had only recently moved into the Wonderland Space.
Most of the others were temporarily stuck at Level 99.
Breaking through the Level 100 bottleneck required a large amount of energy, as it involved forcibly elevating the strength of both body and soul to a level comparable to that of a god, without having comprehended any Authority.
Therefore, reaching Level 100 truly required a long period of gradual strengthening through massive energy accumulation.
Aside from Yae Miko and Xianyun, the other girls' foundations were still too shallow. Without an inherited divine Authority, comprehending one on their own was indeed quite difficult.
Among them, prodigious scholars like Lisa and Mona had the highest probability of being the first to comprehend an Authority.
Of course, whether or not they awakened their own Authority didn't really matter. With Nolan's harmonized energy, their physical bodies and souls could still be raised beyond Level 100.
That alone was equivalent to possessing a god's combat power, and any elemental attacks they unleashed afterward would also be at a god-tier level.
Lacking an Authority did make them somewhat weaker than true gods and limited their methods, but that wasn't a serious issue.
After all, the higher the level, the greater the gap between each level. For example, if Fischl were to reach Level 105 in the future, she could suppress a Level 100 frontline god using spiritual power alone.
Even if the opponent possessed an Authority, it would be difficult for them to fully unleash its power.
Moreover, in today's Teyvat—where gods no longer openly appear—they were already the strongest beings around. With or without Authority, it made little difference.
After spending several days helping the girls improve their strength, and once Collei, Ayaka, Sara, and the others had adapted to the new environment—
Nolan began preparing once again to continue raising the girls' affection levels.
Among the girls in Inazuma who shared a close relationship with him, Kirara was the only one whose affection hadn't reached max yet.
But she was already close to Level 7:
[Kirara — Current Affection Level Lv.6 (530/600)]
Still, maxing it out wouldn't be so quick—gifting Affection Skills and the like would take time. Moreover, the Irodori Festival that Yae Miko was currently preparing was coming up soon.
By then, he could find a suitable excuse to slowly raise Kirara's affection.
Over in Sumeru, Nahida's affection toward him was nearly maxed out as well. For now, it would be faster to head to Sumeru and continue raising affection there.
Dehya and Faruzan were a bit more troublesome. To raise their affection quickly, he would need to find a reason to spend time with them.
That shouldn't be too difficult.
One of them was a mercenary of the desert, extremely familiar with the area—he could use the excuse of going on a desert adventure, and having someone knowledgeable like Dehya accompany him would be convenient.
Inviting Faruzan along wouldn't be difficult either.
She was a scholar. He could say he was exploring a desert ruin that might contain records of advanced mechanical techniques.
With a bit of flattery—calling her "senpai" a few times—she would probably agree. Then he could use the desert ruin expedition as a legitimate reason to bring both of them along.
The only question was whether the desert actually had any hidden ruins. If so, that would make his excuse even more justified.
First, he would go ask Nahida. With her control over the "Akasha Network," her information was naturally the most comprehensive.
As long as someone had posted information online about encountering desert ruins, she would notice it. And if none could be found, he could simply go and look for one himself.
With that in mind, Nolan teleported to the Akademiya's Sanctuary of Surasthana.
(End of Chapter)
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