"Hehehe, Sage Magnus, if you don't join the World Government, then we won't save the more than one hundred thousand residents of Rondel."
"We'll only take away a small number of magisters willing to submit, along with all the books, records, and equipment here," Deputy Minister Benson said with a faint smile.
"Save?"
"Hmph, what a joke. If you don't harm them, that alone is protection enough from the major gods, ugh…"
Sage Magnus couldn't go on. His face darkened as he turned his head away.
"Eh, for the mayor of Rondel, a magister of sage level, to not even know the doomsday crisis his own world faces—truly hard to justify."
President Joseph shook his head in lament.
At the same time, he drew a recording Den-Den Mushi from his robes and placed it on the table.
Sage Magnus was still pondering what "doomsday crisis" meant.
When he saw another "magic snail" appear, tension rose instantly in his heart.
"What are you trying to show me now?!"
Meeting his gaze, Joseph said quietly, "The truth of the world the gods have concealed from you."
Sage Magnus, Elder Coton, and Elder Hart all froze.
Soon, as the recording played—
All the magisters of Rondel present began to witness what was happening at the edges of this world.
An endless, sky-darkening tide of black shadows was silently swallowing everything across the continent.
In just a few decades more, the entire continent of Falmart—
—was likely to be completely consumed by this "Void Mist," dissolved into boundless darkness and chaos.
"Those chief gods revealed that the reason they hid this with all their strength was to avoid causing your panic, and at the same time to prevent you from seizing each 'opening of the gate' as a chance to flee to other worlds. As for them, at the final moment, they would depart carrying all the faith power they had gathered."
When he saw them fall into silence after watching, Deputy Minister Benson laid out the truth in a low, heavy tone.
But the eyes of Sage Magnus, Elder Coton, Elder Hart, and the others were already filled with rage.
Not toward Benson, but toward the chief gods they had always revered, even worshiped!
"Shameless! Despicable! Utterly vile!!!"
Sage Magnus's fury exploded, teal-green magic surging out from his body.
Once calmed, Sage Magnus immediately reined in his magic.
"So you believe this world has no hope left, and wish to take us to live in yours?"
As he said this, his demeanor softened considerably.
"Yes. Regrettably, the World Government as it stands still lacks the power to stop the 'Void God.'"
"That is why we hope to relocate as many living beings from this world as possible."
"Not only from Rondel, but also including humans, dwarves, elves, winged folk, beastkin, and more."
"Good!!!"
After hearing Johnson Benson's words, Sage Magnus gave a loud exclamation of praise.
"If that is truly the case, then I will give my full support. What harm is there in submitting to the World Government?"
"But I also hope—no, I implore you—please, for Rondel's sake, release Sage Mimoza and her students. Her magical ability is in no way inferior to mine!"
Across from him, a gleam of joy flashed in Chairman Joseph's eyes.
He had raised this matter before, but failed.
Now that Magnus brought it up again, there should be hope, right?
As president of the Magic Association, of course he wanted more masters within it.
"This, I can only report on your behalf. I cannot guarantee the outcome."
Benson replied with great sincerity.
"I understand. Then what must I do next in order to count as having joined the World Government?"
Magnus was somewhat anxious, though what truly pressed him was the migration of Rondel and the continent's living beings.
Although that 'Void Mist' was still far away, who could guarantee it would not accelerate?
So it was best to let everyone leave as soon as possible!
From this moment on, toward such beings as gods, he felt only loathing.
At the same time, he deeply regretted his previous actions opposing the World Government.
Otherwise, so many lives would not have been lost, nor would two of his old comrades have been dragged down with him.
...
The formal submission of the Magic City, Rondel, immediately brought the World Government nearly one hundred thousand mage citizens, along with a highly developed system of magical research institutions and professorships.
The "Rondel Meditation Method" they possessed could be taught to anyone with a gift for mental power, and it also granted mages the ability to absorb external mana and store it within their bodies.
Compared with the magic system of the "Zero Magic World," this one had far wider applicability and could function normally even in worlds without ambient mana.
At present, the "Zero Magic World" also had more than two hundred thousand mages. Yet, because their "Four-Element Magic" could not be used in other worlds, they were forced to "hole up" there.
Now, however, as long as these "Zero Mages" learned the "Rondel Meditation Method," it would not take long for the World Government to gain another large pool of usable mages. By then, magic as a power system would truly have taken root under the World Government's banner.
For the World Government—or rather, for the Other Worlds Strategic Committee—the real work had only just begun.
The relocation of Rondel alone involved an immense number of tasks.
Meanwhile, cities and villages across the former Empire were also converging toward Alnus Hill under escort by units of the Auxiliary Corps.
In addition, a fleet of airships carrying officials of the Other Worlds Strategic Committee was en route to the main gathering places of various races, escorted in large numbers by armed "Apache" helicopters.
The Dwarf Kingdom in the south was the top priority!
That was also the next destination of Johnson Benson after leaving Rondel.
...
Within his pocket dimension, Imu was inspecting the space, which had grown much larger than before.
Zufmuut's divine soul truly was a good thing.
After fusing it in, this place had expanded nearly threefold.
Moreover, under the effect of "Order," every living being within the space would instinctively obey any rules he set.
Beyond that—
Hardy's divine soul had been made into a scabbard and given to Enma.
Palapon's divine soul had been used to reinforce Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's "Golden Rope."
For now, those were the only results.
The divine souls of Flare, Deldort, Ra, Lunaryur, Miritta, and Emroy still remained.
Among them, the divine soul of Flare, the "Goddess of Light and Sun," Imu intended to bestow upon Borsalino.
The divine soul of Ra, the "Goddess of Wind," he planned to give to Dragon.
These two matched by attribute, costing him little thought.
Deldort was the "God of Covenants."
Imu planned to fashion for himself a "Contract Scroll," transferring part of the functions of the Truth Contract into it.
There might still be things he hadn't thought of, but that was fine—it could be done step by step.
Imu returned to the study aboard Noah's Ark.
He gazed in thought at the spherical crystal on the desk, gleaming with a violet-black luster.
Darkness, death, judgment, frenzy, war.
Normally, these five attributes would be fashioned into some kind of weapon.
But he already had two weapons.
Enma and Seika.
What's more, he now used space as his blade—or Haki as his blade—so he didn't much need a material weapon.
Imu began to reflect on what the best use for Emroy's divine soul would be.
"I need a helper!"
After a long bout of thought, Imu's eyes lit up as inspiration surfaced in his mind.
"A helper who can handle all kinds of miscellaneous matters for me, who can help me absorb the power of faith, and whom I can absolutely trust!"
There was no need to say much about miscellaneous matters.
As for the power of faith, it came from his divine office as Lord of the Underworld of Starfish.
Although he had not publicized this identity on a grand scale, the occasional prayers of the underworld dead would still generate the power of faith.
The power of faith was, of course, a fine thing.
But the lessons learned from the chief gods of the world of Falmart made Imu understand that it could not be relied upon.
It was even more addictive than Devil Fruit abilities.
This was why those chief gods, despite having been deities for tens of thousands of years, still had not turned the divine offices and authority that the world's will lent them into sovereign power under their own control.
Once they entered other worlds, they would immediately lose their divine office and most of their divine power.
This was because they only knew how to develop followers, relying solely on the power of faith—never once considering comprehending the rules within their divine office and fully making them their own.
In this respect, it was much like a Devil Fruit.
A Devil Fruit also planted the seed of a certain rule into its user, who would then train and develop it—
step by step allowing it to take root, sprout, and grow strong.
When their mastery reached a certain level, the ability would fully bloom. This was what was known as Awakening.
But there was still some distance to go before the ability truly became their own.
In short, Imu would not abandon the power of faith; he would still use it when the time came.
But he hoped the power of faith would not reside in himself.
His earlier idea had been to store it somewhere else.
But now he had a new idea.
To create a doppelgänger of himself!
This doppelgänger would inherit the divine office of "Lord of the Underworld" and all of the power of faith.
While his true self would continue to focus on studying the rules of space, striving to step into the realm of True God through the path of space.
Of course, he would not neglect Colorless Haki and swordsmanship either.
"As for the doppelgänger, I could look into the ninjutsu records on Shadow Clone and Wood Clone—perhaps I can learn something useful from them."
"But to make a good doppelgänger, would I also need to split off part of my own soul?"
At this thought, Imu hesitated.
According to Orochimaru's experience in the "original work," lacking parts of one's soul would create mental weaknesses, making it difficult to resist invasions from illusion-type abilities.
"But the Wood Clone didn't seem to have that issue."
Imu could not figure it out, and thought it best to research first.
In any case, the concept of a doppelgänger was already formed.
By using Emroy's divine soul crystal as the core, supplemented with other rare materials along with alchemy of stigmas, magic, Teigu-forging, and other extraordinary techniques, he would create a "Dark Doppelgänger" of his very own!
If it succeeded, all sorts of miscellaneous powers could be thrown onto it.
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