Elise had already stayed in this small village for quite some time. It would not be appropriate to remain much longer.
Although Bell looked at her with worshipful eyes every day, Zeus was still a tremendous threat. If she let her guard down for even a moment, the old man would sneakily try to cop a feel. Of course, every single time, Alfia and Elise planted him in the ground.
To tell the truth, Elise had found it rather strange at first. With Alfia facing a Zeus like this every day, how could nothing ever go wrong?
Now she finally had her answer.
A life that was too peaceful was not necessarily a good thing. Sometimes, one needed a little seasoning to change the flavor.
That was exactly how Alfia treated Zeus. She regarded him as seasoning for her daily life, beating him up whenever she had nothing better to do. It greatly relieved the pressure in her heart.
Had Elise not done something similar before?
Alise and the others would say that she had done it far too many times!
"What do you plan to do next? Return directly to Orario?"
"No, I still have a few other things to take care of. It will probably be a very long time before I can return to Orario."
It was time to leave this world, but she could not tell anyone—or any god—about that.
Although... one god had already guessed, that deity would not tell anyone.
"I see. Then I'll accompany you for part of the way."
On the village road, two beauties, one golden-haired and one silver-haired, walked forward at a leisurely pace. However...
The atmosphere between them seemed somewhat subtle.
Alfia had always been an icy beauty who preferred quiet surroundings. Even her title was Silence.
Yet at this moment, Alfia's brows were furrowed. Anyone could tell that something was troubling her.
"Is something wrong?"
The atmosphere had persisted for a long time. Elise finally could not endure it any longer. After secretly taking a few photographs, she asked for the reason.
"Mm... it's about what happened a few days ago, when you helped treat us."
Once they turned to serious business, Alfia's expression improved considerably.
"I know I'm being repetitive, but I still have to thank you again for saving our lives."
"Zald and the others should have come as well, but he said something like, 'This is a conversation between you women, so we won't interfere,' then took Bell and that thing with him to work the fields."
"So I'm the one handling this."
"There's really no need to be so formal. You're all seniors from Orario, after all. Helping you was only natural." Elise did not think it was a big deal, but Alfia clearly disagreed.
"That won't do!"
"It may not mean much to you, but to us, you gave us a second life. No matter what, we must repay you. So Zald and I discussed it..."
At that moment, Alfia opened her tightly closed eyes and smiled at Elise.
"As long as it lies within our abilities, no matter what you ask of us, we will help you. How does that sound?"
Elise froze slightly when she heard those words. A promise from Alfia and Zald was not something an ordinary person could obtain, especially one that applied to "anything." Its scope was far broader than most people could imagine.
"Those are excellent terms, but I refuse!"
"Why?" After hearing Elise's answer, displeasure appeared on Alfia's face, and her brows furrowed once more.
"Talking about repayment makes it sound as though I saved you because I wanted compensation. I don't like that feeling..."
"So, in exchange for saving your lives, could I become your friend?"
"I see. I understand."
Although Alfia did not say anything more, Elise could sense the corners of her lips lifting slightly.
"Then I hope that, on the road ahead, you will travel even farther than people like us ever did, Elise."
Without realizing it, they had already reached the edge of the village. Alfia and Elise both stopped walking.
Even from here, however, they could still see the house. Bell and the other two seemed to be waving from over there.
"Lady Elise! Someday, I'll definitely go to Orario and become an outstanding adventurer!"
"And I'll definitely become a hero!"
Young Bell happily shouted and waved in their direction. Although his voice was faint, none of those present were ordinary people, so naturally they could hear him.
"All right, that's enough talk. Let us meet again in Orario someday."
At the very end, she quietly added one final sentence.
"Thank you for giving me more time to spend with Bell..."
...
Within the Lord God Space, a flash of light appeared, and Elise's figure materialized.
The instant she arrived, Elise underwent a tremendous transformation.
Her aura in particular surged to an entirely new height!
If the previous Elise had been a single wave, then the current Elise had become a tsunami. The difference between before and after was simply too great.
"Phew!"
"It really feels wonderful to have faith!"
Elise moved her limbs a little and stretched her body, making her voluptuous figure beneath her clothes appear even more pronounced.
Unfortunately, the only ones able to appreciate the sight were Elise herself and the contracted spirit within her body.
"Est, how do you feel?"
"I've completely recovered!"
Compared to the weakened state she had been in after unleashing her ultimate attack a few days earlier, Est was now brimming with energy. She even transformed directly into human form and threw herself onto Elise.
"That's wonderful!"
Possessing faith and lacking faith were entirely different concepts.
Simply by returning to the Lord God Space and absorbing the power of faith, both Elise and Est could recover completely. This once again demonstrated the all-purpose nature of the power of faith.
However...
Just as she had said before, Elise did not intend to rely on the power of faith. For all its strength, it also came with many restrictions.
For example, if Elise used the faith belonging to a certain god to fight that same god, the effect would be negligible. It might even cause a backlash against her.
Another example was absorbing the power of faith across different worlds, which was extremely limited.
Absorbing faith from the Asterisk War world while inside the Lord God Space caused no problems, yet trying to absorb faith from the Asterisk War world while in the DanMachi world became extraordinarily difficult.
It was like watching snails race. Not only was it slow, the amount was tiny!
Was this because of the Lord God Space's special nature, or was absorbing faith across worlds simply impossible?
Elise was not sure, but the problems caused by faith would only become increasingly obvious.
That was why she kept traveling from world to world, searching for a new power that could replace faith.
The Prana of the Asterisk War world, the Divine Power of Elementalists, and the magic of the DanMachi world were all things Elise had prepared in order to reduce her dependence on the power of faith.
For now, the results were fairly good.
Even without using the power of faith, Elise's full-strength attack had already reached an A-rank evaluation in the Lord God Space. Although it was only A-, it was still a major step forward, was it not?
Of course, the primary reason Elise's strength had skyrocketed was still her physical constitution.
In most worlds, no matter how much ordinary humans trained their bodies, they still remained within the limits of humanity. They were unlike people in fantasy worlds who could shatter stars with a single punch.
Naturally, certain special fantasy worlds were exceptions.
Elise had used this body for several decades. She had also tried training it and enhancing it with the power of faith, but unfortunately, the effects had always been far too limited.
After experiencing the DanMachi world, however, everything changed.
Elise's physical capabilities had gone from those of an ordinary woman who exercised regularly to those of a first-tier adventurer!
Everything within her body had received an epic enhancement. Whether it was her skin, muscles, bones, or internal organs, none were as fragile as before!
So what level had she reached now?
To put it simply, a first-tier adventurer—that is, a Level 5 adventurer—would not die even if their heart were pierced.
As for Elise, although her visible level was Level 5, her hidden ability values had long since surpassed that level by an enormous margin!
She had defeated Alfia and Zald together. Even treating her as a Level 8 or Level 9 would be underestimating her.
Therefore, if she faced Fan Xinglou again now, Elise would definitely reclaim her dignity and grind that old woman pretending to be young into the ground!
"Why not go back and try it now?"
The moment she imagined Fan Xinglou lying across her thighs with a humiliated expression, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as Elise spanked her, a wave of excitement surged through Elise.
Very soon, however, Elise noticed the abnormality in herself and helplessly covered her forehead.
"Honestly..."
"I only wanted to improve the ability values of my Familia members back then. How did I end up turning myself into this?"
Feeling abnormally happy whenever she beat someone up, was that not...
Ahem. Forget it.
It would be better not to think too deeply about it!
Elise was Lady Saintess!
Even if she struck you with her fists, every blow was still filled with love!
Had you not noticed that after Elise finished beating you, all the wounds on your body vanished?
At most, you would only suffer a little pain. A moment later, you would be brimming with energy again!
"I haven't seen Sylvia in so long. I really do miss her. I'll go back first..."
Just as Elise prepared to open a teleportation gate, something caught her attention.
Executor: Elise Holiness
World Number: 3 (Blade Dance of the Elementalers)
World Analysis Rate: 90%
How did this world end up like this?
I remember that before I went to the DanMachi world, its analysis rate wasn't this high. Did something major happen after I left?
A sudden urge arose in Elise's heart to go there and investigate, but after careful consideration, she immediately abandoned the idea.
The plot has already ended. What would I even go back there for?
I already faked my death in front of the protagonist, Kamito Kazehaya. What if something goes wrong when I return?
Elise did not want anyone conquering her heart!
But speaking of the plot ending... could it really be what I think?
At first, Elise had avoided forcibly altering the plot in order to prevent unexpected complications, but now...
The Elementalist world had already been mangled beyond recognition. She had even helped Kamito Kazehaya defeat the final boss. The plot had collapsed into such a mess, yet the analysis rate could still reach such a high level?
Elise still did not understand how any of it was calculated. After all, this was a damaged Lord God Space.
Then let's look at the analysis rate for the DanMachi world...
Executor: Elise Holiness
World Number: 4 (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?)
World Analysis Rate: 72%
Elise genuinely had not expected it to reach 72%.
So far, she had not even entered the main storyline!
Although her initial plan had been to test how much influence she could exert on the plot, she had not thought there was anything unusual about it. But now...
It feels far less exaggerated than I imagined.
Or can the analysis rate also increase as long as I have a major impact on the plot?
If that were true, then Elise could truly act however she pleased in the future. Whether she changed the plot or not would not matter, as long as she caused a sufficiently large disturbance, right?
Taking it a little further, wouldn't it be more convenient to directly launch a holy war, just like in those books I once read?
Forget everything else. Let's just start a world war!
Haha, I'm joking.
A saintess was someone who saved all living beings. How could she possibly start a war?
Unless...
It was an exceptionally awful world!
"So I should hurry back to the Asterisk War world..."
Wasn't that great war initiated by the church as well?
At that moment, a certain voice suddenly echoed within Elise's mind. Her entire body froze in place as though she had been nailed to the ground.
"I feel like... I've heard those words somewhere before."
A world war initiated by me... could this be...?
All of a sudden, the figure of a golden-haired woman much like Elise appeared within her mind.
She was a smiling woman with an extremely cunning personality, someone who resembled a vixen in many ways and even possessed a slightly wicked streak...
Claudia Enfield!
The student council president of Seidoukan Academy in the Asterisk War world!
She had once said something exactly like that...
No way.
Although her Pan-Dora possesses the ability to predict the future, how could it even predict what I'm thinking right now?
Coincidence?
Elise reflected on what she had just thought.
Unless it was an exceptionally awful world...
Is the Asterisk War world really that terrible?
I control the power of an entire foundation, and I know plenty of classified information. Could there still be something awful that I've never seen?
The more Elise thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong.
Should I really return to the Asterisk War world now?
Starting a great war sounds impressive, but ordinary people would ultimately be the ones who suffered...
No!
I need to think this through carefully!
Elise thought for quite some time before finally withdrawing her hand. She had a premonition that if she returned to the Asterisk War world now, something terrifying might happen...
Besides, she had only just emerged from the DanMachi world and needed to find somewhere to test her strength.
That world really does seem suitable!
It has an abundance of faith. It may not belong to me, but I can always seize it!
In that world, Elise also had a chance to become a saintess!
A genuine saintess of an actual religion!