Asuna stared at the bamboo forest before her and wiped away imaginary sweat from her forehead.
"Phew…"
"Every time I come here, it feels like riding a roller coaster."
"That sunflower field is way too terrifying."
Maple blinked innocently beside her.
"Terrifying?"
"I don't think so."
"Yuuka-onee-san is actually really easy to talk to."
"She even shared sunflower seeds with me last time."
The moment those words left Maple's mouth, everyone else immediately went silent.
Then they all collectively developed headaches.
The fact that Maple had survived this long was honestly a miracle.
Seriously—
Did this girl have any idea how absurdly lucky she was?
Even though everyone in this world had fairly high luck stats by now, Maple's luck was on an entirely different level.
None of them understood how she had somehow become friends with that terrifying flower tyrant.
Thinking about it made everyone speechless.
After all, they had personally witnessed Yuuka Kazami burying several little youkai alive and casually turning them into fertilizer.
And according to the residents of Gensokyo—
That wasn't even unusual.
Rumor had it, according to a certain unnamed tengu reporter, that the massive sunflower field contained no fewer than tens of thousands of youkai corpses beneath it.
Otherwise, how could the flowers possibly bloom so magnificently?
Because of those rumors, almost everyone who passed through the area did so with trembling nerves.
Even when Yuuka occasionally opened a shop outside, most people treated her with overwhelming caution and respect.
Her reputation had been utterly doomed from the start.
Apparently that same tengu reporter had nearly become fertilizer herself afterward.
Thinking about all this, the group hurried through the bamboo forest and finally arrived at the residence of a certain shut-in princess.
...
Meanwhile—
Elsewhere in Dimensional City…
Izumi was currently bullying Yukari Yakumo so thoroughly that she looked ready to cry.
Now stripped of all her powers and reduced to an ordinary girl, Yukari trembled helplessly.
Beside her, Yuyuko Saigyouji wore an unusually dark smile.
Seeing Yukari like this somehow delighted her immensely.
"Hehe~"
"Go, Zumi-chan! Make her cry!"
The sudden encouragement from Yuyuko nearly broke Yukari on the spot.
Even Izumi looked speechless.
"Yuyuko… honestly…"
He truly didn't know what to say anymore.
Pink-haired girls really were all secretly terrifying inside.
Still, Izumi didn't complain.
After thoroughly bullying Yukari together with Yuyuko for quite a while, he finally decided to let her go.
...
At the same time—
Lala had already returned to tell her father everything about Izumi's world.
Inside the royal palace of Deviluke—
King Gid stared at his daughters in complete disbelief after hearing their explanation.
"You girls… aren't joking?"
The three sisters had rushed straight to him immediately after returning.
At first, Gid naturally thought it was nonsense.
But all three daughters described the exact same thing.
That made it impossible to dismiss.
Lala nodded excitedly.
"That's right!"
"Father, come with me!"
"I already found my fiancé~!"
The moment she said that, Gid developed a massive headache.
What kind of nonsense was this?
Should he praise his daughter's courage… or criticize how absurdly reckless she was?
She had proposed marriage to a man she had literally just met—
Then immediately returned home to drag her parents over for introductions.
Even Gid didn't know how to react.
Still, after thinking for a moment, he nodded.
"Very well."
"Then let's visit this world."
"We'll bring your mother too."
He agreed surprisingly quickly.
At the same time, he was genuinely curious about these so-called other worlds.
Perhaps…
There might even be a way to heal his body there.
A faint light flashed in Gid's eyes at the thought.
...
Soon enough, the entire family gathered together.
The King of Deviluke, his queen, the three princesses, and several royal guards departed together under Lala's lead.
In an instant, they vanished from their world—
And appeared inside Dimensional City.
As with all first-time visitors, they arrived directly within the city itself.
The moment Gid entered this world, his brows furrowed.
His power had instantly been restricted.
At the same time, a massive amount of information flooded his mind.
Moments later—
His eyes widened in shock.
So it was real.
Even after hearing his daughters explain it, personally experiencing it was entirely different.
Just as he was processing everything—
Izumi suddenly appeared nearby together with Asagi Aiba.
The instant Gid entered the world, Izumi had already noticed.
The moment Lala saw him, her eyes sparkled brightly.
Ignoring her father completely, she immediately threw herself into Izumi's arms.
"Izumi-kun!"
"I'm back!"
"Let me introduce you—this is my father and mother!"
She happily pointed toward Gid and her mother while making introductions.
Izumi's gaze landed briefly on Lala's mother.
The most beautiful woman in the universe truly lived up to her title.
Then he smiled faintly.
A gentle power flowed from his body directly into Gid.
"Nice to meet you, Father-in-law."
"Please accept this as my greeting gift."
The instant Izumi spoke—
Gid's body began changing.
All the hidden damage accumulated from years of war vanished completely.
Even his originally shrunken form returned to its proper adult appearance.
Because of the injuries he sustained during the great interstellar war, maintaining his mature body had only been possible for a few precious hours each day.
And most of that precious time had naturally been spent with his wife.
But now—
Everything had recovered completely.
Not only had his injuries vanished, but he had returned to his absolute peak condition.
No—
He was even stronger than before.
Realizing this, Gid's pupils contracted sharply.
"What incredible power…"
"So you are Lala's chosen fiancé?"
"I approve."
"When will you come inherit my throne?"
"I'll hand everything over to you and retire for a nice vacation."
Gid skipped straight past all unnecessary formalities and immediately tried handing over the kingdom.
Izumi instantly rolled his eyes.
"Let's not do that."
"I'm too powerful now."
"If I enter your world directly, it'll probably explode on the spot."
"So unfortunately that won't work."
Gid raised an eyebrow after hearing that.
He glanced around Izumi's world thoughtfully before speaking again.
"Then what about merging my world into yours?"
"This place is already a fusion of many worlds, isn't it?"
"There are countless different power systems coexisting here."
Now that his body had fully recovered, his perception had sharpened significantly.
As a result, he could immediately tell what kind of world this was.
Hearing that suggestion, Izumi thought for a moment before nodding.
"If it's a world fusion, then there's no problem."
"I still have several World Fusion Cards left, after all."