"Now's not the time for talk—we need to figure out how to break this damned thing."
"Tch, like I needed you to tell me that."
All of the mages began pouring their life's worth of magical knowledge into trying to unravel the golden energy barrier.
Unfortunately, no matter what they did, they couldn't budge it in the slightest.
The golden barrier never stopped contracting, and as time passed, its diameter continued to shrink.
The bisected remains of the first mages to die were also consumed the moment the barrier passed over them.
With over a hundred mages now huddled together, they were quickly reaching the limit of the space the barrier allowed.
Despair spread among them.
In a frantic bid to survive a few seconds longer, those on the perimeter began shoving inward like madmen, even pushing others into the barrier without hesitation.
The mages in the center weren't about to give up their positions either, and soon began counterattacking to keep the outer ones at bay.
Chaos erupted as dozens were thrown into the barrier and vanished entirely, body and soul.
But the infighting was pointless. At best, it bought a few extra moments of life.
Finally, with agonized screams of rage and regret, the barrier collapsed inward completely, compressing into a single golden beam of light that shot skyward from the hotel entrance before vanishing.
In under a minute, every magus from the Association had been annihilated.
Silence returned to the entrance. The Holy Church members and Dead Apostles who had observed from afar had long since fled the area once the bloodshed began.
They had no desire to share the same fate.
Inside the hotel suite, Eriri and the others continued playing cheerfully, completely unconcerned with the would-be attackers outside.
To them, the mages were less than ants—utterly beneath notice.
Two days later, after exploring the world a bit more, Eriri returned to the Saekano world with everyone in tow.
That included Sakura, who had spent three days staying at the Tohsaka residence.
No—she should now be called Sakura Sawamura.
...
Naturally, the arrival of Fujino, Artoria, and the Gorgon Sisters was met with warm welcome from everyone in the household, and a customary welcome party was held that same day.
The friendly nature of Eriri's family—especially Arifureta and the others—quickly put the newcomers at ease, melting away any anxiety they had about fitting in.
It didn't take long for them to grow close with everyone and adapt to their new life.
The prosperity of the Saekano world and its abundance of superpowers fascinated Artoria and the Gorgon Sisters.
But the sisters, in particular, didn't enjoy going out. They spent most of their time at home, showing little interest even in the fantastical worlds behind the World Gates.
Unless Eriri went with them, that is.
Artoria, by contrast, occasionally ventured into other worlds to admire new sights.
Fujino began attending school with Enju Aihara and the others.
And just like that, over a week passed in the blink of an eye.
Then came another invitation from Azusa, prompting Eriri to travel once again—this time to the world of Slime Taoshite 300 (I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level).
...
In a wooden house atop a plateau, six figures gathered together.
Three were girls around sixteen or seventeen years old, two were younger girls who looked about ten, and the last was a ghostly girl floating in midair.
This was none other than Azusa's family.
At that moment, Azusa sat on the couch, flanked by her two daughters, Falfa and Shalsha. Opposite them, seated on another bench, were the red dragon girl Laika and the busty blonde forest elf Halkara.
Floating behind Laika and Halkara was the ghost girl, Rosalie.
"Lady Azusa, are you sure we don't need to prepare food to welcome our guests?" Laika asked seriously.
"It's fine, it's still early. It's not even mealtime yet," Azusa waved her hand casually, clearly unconcerned.
"Um, Master…" Halkara, sitting next to Laika, raised her hand.
"What is it, Halkara?"
"Why are we waiting for our guests indoors? If it's someone important, shouldn't we be greeting them outside?" Halkara asked curiously.
"Oh, that… I haven't really told you about Eriri yet. But now's not the time. You'll understand soon enough."
After watching the memory playback, Azusa hadn't made any major changes to events. Since there was no serious danger involved, she decided to let things unfold naturally.
Rosalie was the one exception.
A few months ago, Azusa had brought Rosalie home from the abandoned factory, not wanting the girl to continue suffering alone.
Halkara, on the other hand, had arrived just the day before, just like in the original story.
Knowing how things would play out, Azusa didn't overreact when it came to Beelzebub. After agreeing to help Halkara, she simply summoned Beelzebub, cleared up the misunderstanding, and even befriended her.
As a result, Halkara remained completely unaware of the chat group's existence.
Azusa's reputation as the Highland Witch was incredibly well-known in this world. To Halkara, she was one of the strongest beings alive—hence why she had come seeking her aid.
When Azusa mentioned they were expecting guests, her tone had been quite serious.
That alone was enough to tell Halkara that these guests were even more important to Azusa than someone like Beelzebub.
As soon as Azusa's voice fell, a dimensional portal suddenly appeared just one meter in front of Halkara, startling her.
"Eeep!"
She yelped and quickly scrambled toward Laika.
"What is that?!"
"Halkara, it's alright. That's a World Portal—it means our guests are about to arrive," Laika reassured her.
Unlike Halkara, Laika and the others had seen these portals before.
Every time Azusa traveled to another world, the same portal appeared. They all understood what it meant.
Laika's words helped calm Halkara's nerves somewhat. Although still scared of the unknown, her panic began to fade.
Moments later, Eriri stepped out of the portal.
But the portal didn't close right away. Two small girls followed after her: Ophis and Scarlet (Great Red).
Once they had exited, the portal finally dissipated—no fourth guest appeared.
The moment Halkara saw the trio, she understood what Azusa had meant earlier.
And she now understood why they waited for guests inside.
At the same time, Azusa stood from the couch, a radiant smile spreading across her face.
"Eriri, and you too, Ophis, Scarlet—welcome!" she said cheerfully.
"Mhm, long time no see, Azusa." Eriri smiled and nodded.
Ophis and Scarlet stood silently to Eriri's left and right.
Although Eriri hadn't set up a World Gate in this world yet, that didn't mean Azusa hadn't been to other worlds. Even though her chat group points were minimal compared to other members, buying a few Cross-Boundary Talisman was easy enough for her.
Azusa had met Ophis and Scarlet while visiting the Saekano world, although they weren't particularly close.
Falfa and Shalsha also stood up from the sofa with Azusa, their curious eyes locked on Eriri.
"Sister, you're the Eriri Mama always talks about? You're so pretty!" Falfa said excitedly.
Shalsha nodded quickly. "Yeah, super pretty!"
Aside from Azusa, this was everyone else's first time meeting Eriri. Before today, she only existed in their imaginations.
Azusa often spoke about the chat group and Eriri, which had made Falfa and the others very curious. But when they saw Eriri in person, they realized their imagination had fallen short—both her appearance and aura far surpassed what they had envisioned.
Hearing the girls' praise, Eriri walked a few steps forward, placed her hands on their little heads, and gently ruffled their hair.
Then she smiled and said, "Falfa, Shalsha, you two are adorable too."
"Eh? Eriri-nee knows our names?" Falfa asked curiously.
Neither showed any resistance to the head pats—in fact, they were delighted.
"Of course, Azusa talks about you all the time."
Eriri's words made the sisters smile even brighter.
After that, Laika, Rosalie, and Halkara also greeted Eriri and introduced themselves.
Due to the unique nature of her entrance, Halkara began asking all kinds of questions like an inquisitive child.
Eriri and the others patiently answered, never showing annoyance.
The room was soon lively and filled with laughter and exclamations.
Almost an hour passed this way, and it was already past 4 p.m. when things began to calm down.
At that moment, Laika spoke up: "Azusa-sama, Eriri-sama, it's almost dinner time. I'll go start preparing."
"No need for that. Actually, I've already got dinner prepared," Eriri said with a smile, stopping Laika.
"You'll be tasting a meal made by our Aoi-neesan tonight—I guarantee you'll never forget it."
Azusa's eyes lit up.
"We get to eat Aoi's cooking again? That's amazing! I haven't had any in weeks."
Then, as if remembering something, her tone shifted.
"Eriri, can I invite Beelzebub over to join us for dinner too?"
"Of course. There's plenty for everyone."
"Yay! I'll summon her now!" Azusa said excitedly.
Just yesterday, after becoming friends with Beelzebub, Azusa had learned the summoning spell from her.
Although the process was different, the result still aligned with the original story.
Just as Azusa was about to use summoning magic, Eriri suddenly interrupted her casting.
"Azusa, there's no need to go through all that trouble. I'll just teleport them here directly."
"Them?" Azusa's eyes flashed with confusion for a moment. She thought Eriri had simply misspoken.
Without any further delay, Eriri snapped her fingers.
In that instant, two new figures appeared in the room. One of them was Beelzebub—the very person Azusa had intended to summon.
And the other, whose appearance Azusa instantly recognized, was none other than the current Demon King of the Demon Realm: Pecora.
...
"Where is this place?"
Pecora looked around at the unfamiliar room and the strange humans before her, a confused expression on her face.
Pecora had a very petite build, standing at less than 140 centimeters tall, but her chest was surprisingly ample.
She wore a black backless dress that revealed a considerable amount of cleavage.
Her platinum-blonde hair was tied up, with two black ram-like horns protruding from either side of her head. Three black tails extended from beneath her dress, lifted high in the air. Altogether, her appearance was incredibly cute.
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