"Aisha, you're here too!"
Kiana Kaslana appeared instantly before the two.
Elysia, who was sitting on Aisha's lap, turned her head and said, "Mom."
"What is it, Ely?"
Kiana Kaslana looked at her with a questioning expression.
"N-nothing."
Elysia thought for a moment but chose not to ask anything.
She could feel that her mother was hiding something from her. Since Mom had decided to keep it secret, asking now probably wouldn't get her any answers.
"Little Ely just asked me a lot about us," Aisha said.
"Children are naturally curious," Kiana Kaslana smiled.
"Kiki, do you even have time to take care of Little Ely?"
Aisha doubted whether her friend—who loved wandering across worlds—could truly settle down to raise a child.
"I've been quite busy lately. A few new worlds have just opened up," Kiana said. "You know which ones—they need to be cleared."
"Indeed."
Elysia quietly listened to the two of them talk.
Clear.
Clear what?
Her curiosity grew stronger.
"Oh, Aisha, why don't I send Ely to your world for school?"
"Why my world?"
"Well…" Kiana tilted her head in thought. "I think Little Ely suits your place better. Hmm… Saeko Busujima's world would work too, but the environment there isn't great."
"If you want to send her, go ahead." Aisha nodded.
"Then it's decided."
Kiana Kaslana reached out to pat Elysia's head as she sat on Aisha's lap.
"Ely, do you want to go play in Aisha-sis's world?"
"I do," Elysia answered honestly.
"Wait a moment, I'll register you."
Kiana Kaslana granted Elysia permission to travel between worlds. This allowed her to physically traverse any world already under their control—those where the dimensional gates had been stabilized and reality-warping fields were active.
After over a year of study and preparation, Kiana Kaslana and Sirin had built fixed teleportation arrays in their controlled worlds—safe and stable portals for interworld travel.
No longer did she or Sirin need to personally escort every traveler.
Of course, this system only applied to worlds already conquered and equipped with the fixed arrays. Additionally, each user required authorization and verification—to prevent enemies from using the portals to cause trouble.
Now that Elysia knew they belonged to the Honkai faction, letting her travel freely wasn't an issue.
There was even a fixed teleportation array within the Elven Palace.
"All set. Let's go have fun in Aisha-sis's world."
Kiana Kaslana lifted Elysia from Aisha's arms.
They walked to an area on the floor inscribed with glowing, intricate runes.
With a whoosh—
The three of them vanished.
Their destination: the world of Hell Girl.
Kiana Kaslana had another reason for sending Elysia away—the Great Tomb of Nazarick had just appeared.
Just in case anything unexpected happened, it was safer to send Elysia elsewhere first.
After all, she was Kiana's personally created daughter.
Even if the original Ainz Ooal Gown was cautious and powerful, he was still no match for her.
But caution was always wise.
...
The world of Hell Girl.
Academy City.
A violet glow flared within the central plaza's teleportation array.
Kiana Kaslana, Aisha, and Elysia appeared together.
Elysia looked up, staring at the modern buildings around her—familiar yet strangely foreign.
Was this the same world she remembered?
"Follow me," Aisha said, taking the lead.
"Let's go, Ely," Kiana Kaslana said, holding her little hand as they followed behind.
Elysia walked along, curiously observing everything around her.
Nearby girls whispered among themselves, sneaking glances at her.
Such an adorable little girl—with pointed ears!
An elf?!
So cute!
For the students of Academy City, outsiders were nothing unusual anymore.
Martians from Mars, fleets of Fog from other worlds, elves, mermaids, humans, and many other races—all coexisted here.
To them, seeing Elysia was nothing special; they simply found her adorably cute and couldn't help but take a few more glances.
As they walked, surrounded by beautiful girls everywhere, Elysia couldn't help but ask, "Mom, are there no boys in this world?"
"There are men, but they don't appear here," Kiana Kaslana replied.
Aisha, walking ahead, heard Elysia's question, glanced back, and explained, "This city is a school exclusively for women. It trains us chosen ones—naturally, there are no males."
"Oh."
Elysia nodded thoughtfully.
Chosen ones… meaning those chosen by Honkai?
Kiana Kaslana and Aisha helped Elysia with her enrollment and familiarized her with the kindergarten environment.
It truly was a paradise.
Elysia watched other girls about her age—three or four years old—playing happily together.
She felt a little dazed.
But soon regained her composure.
Even though she was now a high elf, her one-year-old body looked like that of a human child around three or four.
Still, she retained the memories of her past life.
Was she really going to attend kindergarten?
Elysia felt a little conflicted.
After thinking for a while, she decided to follow her mother's arrangements for now.
At least this way, she could learn what Honkai's kindergarten actually taught.
If it didn't feel right, she could talk to her mother later.
Although her mother was always busy and rarely had time to personally look after her, she seemed gentle, understanding, and kind—
At least on the surface.
Yes, on the surface.
Elysia felt that she had never truly understood her mother.
There was always something strange about her.
It was as if she were deliberately concealing something.
As for why—Elysia had no idea.
Maybe it was just her mother's nature.
After all, she wasn't only secretive with her, but with everyone.
...
The Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Ainz gazed at the intelligence reports his subordinates had gathered, deep in thought.
God-race?!
When he heard the term, the first thing that came to mind was the top-ranked guild—the one composed entirely of angelic players.
But the god-race in this world didn't seem to be those angelic players.
Still, their strong hostility toward non-human races was concerning.
Ainz could sense danger.
The god-race of this world!
Their average level was estimated to be above 75, with an unknown total population.
They possessed abilities that countered tiered magic—essentially the nemesis of magic casters.
They could also ignore racial and class restrictions, freely using any kind of tiered magic or martial arts.
On top of that, they had their own unique magical system.
And, like players, they could resurrect infinitely.
What kind of broken, overpowered race was this?!
No wonder the natives called them gods.
Among the gathered intelligence was also a record of their extreme hostility toward non-human races and the slaughter of countless species.
If the Great Tomb were to be discovered by such a race, it would definitely be surrounded and destroyed.
The thought made Ainz's emotions surge.
His body glowed faintly, and he forced himself to calm down again.
From the current intelligence, it was clear—the Great Tomb stood no chance against the god-race.
If they were exposed, annihilation would be inevitable.
"Albedo, have you and Demiurge finished concealing the Tomb's entrance?" Ainz asked, holding the report as he looked toward a stunning woman with a demonic appearance, dressed in a pure white gown, black angel wings extending from her waist.
"Yes, Lord Ainz. Demiurge and I have completed the concealment," Albedo replied seriously.
She had read the same reports and understood exactly what her beloved Lord Ainz was worried about.
The threat this god-race posed to Nazarick was far too great.
If only one or two groups arrived, they could withstand it.
But if the entire race came—
The Tomb would be annihilated.
They might not even need to send their entire force—just attracting the attention of a few top-tier individuals could push the Tomb into a desperate situation.
Rumor had it that among their ranks were a Goddess of Magic and a Goddess of Truth. The former had created an entirely new magical system, while the latter had developed a vast arsenal of devastating magical weapons.
Their true power was completely unknown.
"I'll go check things myself."
After some thought, Ainz still felt uneasy. He rose from his throne and teleported away using the Guild Ring.
"As expected of Lord Ainz. Ever cautious," Demiurge said, pushing up his round glasses.
These god-race beings had appeared only two years earlier, yet they had already conquered countless nations and tribes across the continent.
Their overall strength was terrifying.
Now, nearly all the surrounding regions belonged to them.
It was, quite literally, a hellish starting scenario.
Still, Demiurge had absolute faith that the supreme ruler, Ainz Ooal Gown, would find a solution.
After thoroughly inspecting the concealment of Nazarick's entrance several times and confirming it was intact, Ainz used the Perfect Warrior spell to temporarily transform from a magic caster into a warrior, his entire body encased in armor.
He decided to personally visit the nearest human settlement to gather more intelligence.
Kahn Village.
Iron Maiden had established a base there to harvest resources from the nearby Great Forest of Tob.
All the villagers worked for her, cultivating various plants unique to magical worlds.
These magical plants couldn't be synthesized through simple nanomaterial replication.
Thus, they had to be grown manually.
Once collected, the plants were stored, studied, and refined into a wide array of potions.
As Ainz approached the outskirts of Kahn Village, he spotted one of the summoned beings mentioned in his reports—a short-haired girl in red robes, wielding a scythe, patrolling the perimeter. Using a magic scroll, he assessed her strength.
Level 45.
Ten levels higher than his standard level 35 Death Knights.
Ainz's arrival didn't go unnoticed. Some villagers spotted the fully armored figure with a sword on his back.
An adventurer—or an enemy?
Before long, the village chief, Alina, arrived to meet him.
She looked at the armored figure and smiled. "Adventurer, are you here on a quest?"
Ainz nodded. "I came to gather some herbs."
At that, Alina blinked in surprise.
In the past, herb gathering around this forest was a common commission.
But now, everyone knew that all resources from the Great Forest of Tob belonged to Lady Iron Maiden.
Every herb-growing area was guarded, and no one else was allowed to harvest or damage them.
"Are you from another region?" she asked politely.
"Yes. My name is Feifei," Ainz replied.
Seeing her reaction, he realized she had already figured out that he wasn't a normal adventurer.
"You must be new here. The herbs and other resources in this area are all managed and distributed by Lady Iron Maiden. If you need some, you can purchase them at the town's shops."
"The prices are quite low," she added kindly.
A monopoly, huh?
Ainz was momentarily stunned. No wonder she reacted that way when he said he was here to collect herbs.
"If you need them urgently, I can give you some," Alina offered.
"No need. I'll buy them in town," Ainz said, waving his hand to decline her kindness.
Suddenly, he sensed something and looked up at the sky.
A black transport aircraft slowly descended onto an open field near Kahn Village.
Seeing such a technologically advanced machine in a world of magic was astonishing.
But Ainz could tell—it wasn't truly mechanical. It was powered by magic energy, just disguised as technology.
A fusion of technology and magic?!
From the intelligence he had gathered, Ainz had already suspected the god-race's origins.
They came from another world—one with highly advanced technology.
As someone from a modern, technological society, Ainz understood this better than most.
If possible, he had no desire to fight them.
He had been passively transported to this unfamiliar world, while they had arrived intentionally.
The difference in initiative alone placed them on entirely different levels.
This wasn't a case of one or two powerful players—it was an entire civilization.
A civilization capable of actively traversing worlds and swiftly adapting to each new environment.