Dionysus clearly didn't want to let him slip past unnoticed.
Even though Genichi had been doing everything he could to keep a low profile and avoid drawing that mad god's gaze, for some reason Dionysus had still noticed him.
And he'd sent over a grimoire.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Genichi stared at the open book in his hands as his thoughts churned.
He couldn't figure it out.
Where, exactly, had he exposed a weakness?
Had someone seen him use Demon Lord Valion in the Dungeon?
Had he been tailed when he went to the Hephaistos Familia to buy a weapon?
Or was it that Dionysus had been watching Demeter's Familia from the very beginning?
Was this grimoire never meant for a "promising newcomer" at all, but for Demeter herself, using the excuse of congratulating her on a new familia member?
If it was the latter… what did that mean?
It meant Dionysus's interest in Demeter started earlier than Genichi thought, and ran deeper than he'd imagined.
A line surfaced in his mind.
Everything is fate. Not even half of it is up to you.
He could be cautious, he could be quiet, he could tiptoe through every day, but he couldn't control the variables that came from outside.
Dionysus noticing him wasn't necessarily because he'd made a mistake.
It might simply be because… that was how fate worked.
Genichi drew a slow breath and forced the roiling thoughts back down.
Thinking about it now wouldn't change anything.
If he'd already been noticed, then there was only one thing left to do.
Get stronger.
Strong enough that even if someone set their sights on him, he could still slip away.
Genichi lifted his head and looked at Demeter, who was standing off to the side.
"Demeter. I'm going to learn this magic. After that, I'll need you to update my status."
"Leave it to me!"
Demeter patted her chest with confidence. The heavy swell there bounced with the motion, a soft ripple rising and falling.
Genichi's gaze only swept past it without lingering.
Or rather, he simply didn't have the mood to think about any of that right now.
He lowered his head and turned to the first page of the grimoire.
In the next instant, a dark crimson light poured out from the paper and swallowed the entire room.
Within that glow, countless ancient characters surfaced, writhing like living things as they drilled into his mind. It wasn't any language he knew, and yet Genichi understood the meaning of every single word with perfect clarity.
That was the grimoire's power.
It guided the reader, awakening a magic that belonged to them alone.
Genichi closed his eyes and let the light and the words sink into his body.
Time seemed to stop.
He didn't know how long it lasted.
A heartbeat, or an entire day.
Genichi slowly opened his eyes.
A complicated emotion flickered through those pitch-black irises.
The awakening was complete.
"Demeter."
His voice was calm, but something faintly off threaded through it.
"Update my status."
Demeter nodded, stepped behind him, and pressed a hand to his back.
A moment later, she opened her eyes, surprise flashing through her amber gaze.
"Genichi… your second magic. The name's kind of strange."
"What is it called?"
"Heavenly Dominion."
Genichi's pupils contracted hard.
Heavenly Dominion.
That name—
How could he not recognize it?
It was a legendary technique from another world.
Genichi fell silent.
He stared at the spell name written on the status sheet, his mind a mess.
Heavenly Dominion?
Had he somehow crossed into the wrong world?
This was the world of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon, not that other world with the red-haired freaks.
"Does this magic have any special effect?" Demeter's voice pulled him back from the chaos.
Genichi's eyes dropped to the explanatory lines on the parchment.
[Heavenly Dominion[1]]
· Summon any person who has ever existed from the river of time.
· Chant: He Hua ——
"What—." Demeter frowned. "He Hua—? That— what is that?"
"It should be the name of the person being summoned."
Genichi's gaze sharpened.
The key to the spell was the final blank.
As long as he knew a name, as long as that existence had left any trace within the river of time, he could call them forth.
What did that mean?
It meant that if he wanted, he could summon heroes from legend—like the Argonaut and other beings who'd once changed the world.
…And if he wanted, he could summon the dead—powerful figures who'd already fallen, like the sacrificed members of the Astraea Familia, or adventurers who'd once stood at the pinnacle of Orario.
Before this magic, they could be called back again, made into his fighting strength.
Genichi's fingers tightened slightly.
This spell was too strong.
So strong he almost couldn't believe it.
And at the same time, far too dangerous.
"Genichi?" Demeter's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
He lifted his head and met her amber eyes.
"Are you okay? You look kind of pale."
"I'm fine."
Genichi shook his head, shoving the thoughts aside for now.
…
"I'm just surprised."
He paused, then looked at Demeter.
"Don't tell anyone about this magic."
Demeter nodded.
"I know."
Of course she knew.
Any one of Genichi's magics getting out would cause an uproar.
Magic Directory was terrifying enough. Now he had Heavenly Dominion too, something that could summon historical figures.
If word of that spread, every temple in Orario would go insane.
Genichi stood and walked to the window, staring out at Orario's nightscape under the moonlight.
The grimoire Dionysus sent had awakened a spell this monstrous.
And that spell also gave Genichi a chance to resist Dionysus.
The only thing Genichi truly feared was that freak under Dionysus, Filvis Challia, a Level 7 threat. But if Filvis Challia couldn't pose a danger, then Dionysus himself wasn't worth fearing.
Drawing a deep breath to crush down the shock in his chest, Genichi began the chant:
"(chant)… Astraea!"
As he finished, a wisp of clear qi flew out from his body, and in the next moment it took the shape of a woman.
Her eyes remained closed. After a brief pause, she finally spoke, voice calm and faintly amused.
"Interesting. To return to Orario in this way…"
Genichi felt the magic in his body draining at a brutal pace. He estimated he could sustain Argonaut's existence for about three minutes.
(End of Chapter)
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[1] (TL: It should be from Emperor's Domination, I will try to translate it better)