Elsewhere, in a dark space untouched by even the faintest trace of light, a blond man of almost supernatural beauty reclined lazily across a sofa.
Without warning, his brow furrowed.
He sat up and reached one hand toward the muscles along his upper back, close to the base of his neck.
After pressing the area for a moment, he gave a cold snort.
"It appears completely assimilating with JOJO's body will still require more time..."
There was only one man in this world whom he would call JOJO.
The blond man slowly rolled his neck before rising to his feet.
His broad, flawless physique looked almost like a divine statue carved from marble, and when combined with the strange, seductive aura surrounding him, the result seemed barely human.
"Lord DIO! Would you like to 'dine'?"
A hoarse voice emerged from somewhere in the darkness.
DIO merely waved one hand.
He was not hungry.
...
Later that night, after finishing their meals, Jotaro and the others prepared to leave.
This time, it might be quite a while before Yuto saw them again.
Jonathan first escorted Erina home.
After making sure she was safe, he returned to the restaurant and formally joined Jotaro's group before their departure.
Their objective was now the same.
That man—DIO.
Yuto respected the journey they were about to undertake and sincerely wished them well.
Anyone willing to step onto an unknown and dangerous road for the sake of protecting someone precious deserved respect.
...
Some time later, Ainz and the others also returned briefly before heading back to their respective worlds once again.
According to Rimuru, matters in his world were almost completely settled.
Which meant next...
They would begin dealing with Ainz's world.
By the time cool morning sunlight spread across the streets outside, the restaurant's business hours were finally over.
Yuto and Tohru cleaned both the interior and exterior together. Once everything was finished, Yuto stood at the entrance and stretched beneath the morning sun.
He had quite a few things to handle today.
Hestia's War Game.
And the matter involving Hanako and the old man.
There was no time to waste.
After sorting through his thoughts, Yuto went back inside and asked Tohru to wake Kanna for school.
Wash up.
Breakfast.
Uniform.
Once everything was ready, Yuto and Tohru accompanied Kanna to the school-bus stop.
Today, Shouko was already waiting for them.
Apparently, after what happened yesterday, she had deliberately gotten up much earlier than usual so she would be ready on time.
If Kanna and Yuto had ended up waiting downstairs for her again...
Shouko would have felt terribly guilty.
Yuto chatted with her briefly before he and Tohru left.
Kanna and Shouko remained behind, happily whispering to each other while waiting for the bus.
From there, Yuto and Tohru went grocery shopping before returning to the restaurant.
Yuto sorted everything they bought, placing the ingredients into the refrigerator and freezer before finally checking the time.
8:40.
He had already arranged everything with Hestia and Sakura the night before.
At nine in the morning, they and everyone else who had agreed to participate would gather at the restaurant.
Yuto had already approved the meeting in advance, so the fact that the restaurant was technically closed would not prevent anyone from entering.
Once everyone arrived, they would travel together to Hestia's world.
Hestia would serve as their guide.
...
The instant the restaurant clock reached nine, the door opened.
Hestia and Sakura were the first to enter.
There was obvious nervousness on the goddess's face.
The War Game was about to begin.
Of course she was nervous.
"Don't panic. Relax. Sit down and wait for everyone else."
Yuto gave her a reassuring smile.
Hestia and Sakura took seats at the counter and waited with him.
As they chatted, the others began arriving one after another.
Iskandar entered with Professor El-Melloi II, one massive arm casually draped across the mage's shoulders while Waver endured it with the expression of a man who had long since accepted his fate.
The arrogant King of Heroes arrived alongside the pure-white Enkidu.
Marisa walked in cheerfully with Yukari, while Yuuka followed quietly beside them.
Saitama entered next, Genos close behind him, and found somewhere to sit.
Lucoa had not forgotten her promise either. She strolled into the restaurant wearing her usual relaxed smile.
More and more people gathered.
And finally...
The last to arrive was the Tohsaka heiress in her familiar red outfit.
Archer stood beside Rin with his usual calm, indifferent expression.
At last...Everyone was here.
Yuto looked around the restaurant.
His gaze passed over the two kings.
Then the Gensokyo group.
Then Saitama, Genos, Lucoa, Rin, Archer, and the others.
More than a dozen people had gathered.
These were the reinforcements who would be participating in Hestia's War Game.
Hestia slowly looked around at all of them.
Her eyes reddened.
Then the goddess bowed deeply.
Before anyone could react, she suddenly stepped forward and threw both arms around Yuto.
Hestia might usually be loud, careless, and quick to complain, but she was not someone incapable of recognizing kindness.
She understood perfectly well why so many extraordinary people had gathered here today.
Ultimately, it was because of Yuto.
All the gratitude and emotion she had been holding back finally surged to the surface at once.
"Thank you... Really... really, thank you!"
Her face was buried against Yuto's neck, making her voice come out slightly muffled.
Yuto sighed with a small smile and gently smoothed her hair.
Then he glanced toward Sakura, who stood nearby with a cheerful smile of her own.
He could not help feeling a little helpless.
At the end of the day...
Somehow, Hestia was still less mature than Sakura.
"Let's go." Yuto spoke softly and patted Hestia on the shoulder.
The goddess finally released him.
She hurriedly wiped away the tears gathering in her eyes before nodding firmly.
"Mm!"
Hestia stepped forward as Yuto walked beside her.
Everyone else followed.
The instant the group passed through the restaurant doorway...they vanished.
Only Tohru remained behind to watch over the restaurant.
...
Orario.
A city built above the endless depths of the Dungeon.
A place where countless races lived side by side.
And home to innumerable adventurers seeking wealth, glory, strength, or simply a reason to keep descending underground.
At the very center of the city stood Babel, the enormous white tower stretching high toward the heavens.
Above it all...the gods watched.
Following Hestia, Yuto and the others emerged onto the streets of Orario.
The visitors immediately began looking around with open curiosity.
And the people of this world stared right back.
"What an interesting place."
"Oh! Is that a cat person?!"
"Hmph. It still cannot compare to Uruk under this king's rule."
"Does Uruk have cat people?"
"What an unbelievably idiotic question!"
"Ahahahahaha!"
"I wonder if this world has any unusual materials I could get my hands on..."
"Oi! Marisa, you aren't planning to steal things again, are you?!"
"Stupid Reimu! Things witches do can't be called stealing!"
"..."
Everyone chatted, argued, laughed, and made noise as they walked.
Yuto glanced toward Hestia with a helpless smile.
With a group this large and this strange, a little chaos was unavoidable.
Fortunately, Hestia did not seem to mind.
"Let's go to the tavern first."
She addressed everyone.
The group quieted down somewhat and followed her toward the Hostess of Fertility.
What none of them particularly cared about, however, was that countless eyes had already noticed their arrival.
Reports were rapidly being sent back to the people behind those watchers.
A rare War Game had attracted enormous attention throughout Orario.
And the gods...
Bored out of their minds after living for countless years would never willingly miss something this entertaining.
High above the city, the Goddess of Beauty listened quietly to a scout's report.
Freya.
She sat with one leg crossed over the other, her slender, captivating body reclining lazily against a sofa.
The report concerned Hestia.
And more importantly...
The unfamiliar group who had suddenly appeared beside her.
An intrigued smile gradually curved across Freya's impossibly beautiful face.
"Oh? Hestia has an entire group of strangers following her?"
She lightly supported her cheek with one hand.
"Perhaps she isn't completely useless after all. I didn't expect her to find unknown reinforcements like this..."
Her smile deepened.
"This might actually become a little interesting."
For a brief moment, it seemed as though a hundred flowers had blossomed at once.
...
Elsewhere...
Loki froze while listening to an almost identical report from her own people.
"Oi, oi, oi..."
She slowly pressed one hand against her forehead.
"That idiot didn't seriously ask the Boss for help, did she?"
A headache was already beginning to form.
She really should have considered the possibility sooner.
Unfortunately, the Loki Familia had been so busy recently that she had not paid enough attention to Hestia's little dispute.
Now it was clearly too late.
"Well... this is going to get lively."
Loki shook her head with a helpless smile.
...
When Hestia's group arrived at the Hostess of Fertility, Mia greeted Yuto with open surprise.
She had never expected Hestia to recruit him as reinforcement.
And Hestia had not given her even the slightest warning beforehand.
Mia was genuinely shocked.
"Mia, your mead has become pretty popular with quite a few of my customers."
Yuto sat down with a smile.
Mia immediately slapped her chest with pride.
"Of course it has! I brew every batch myself! There's no way it wouldn't taste good!"
She laughed loudly.
Everyone gradually found seats throughout the tavern.
Syr and the others brought out hot tea, water, and other drinks while the unusually large group settled in.
Now...
There was nothing left to do except wait.
The War Game was scheduled to begin at exactly noon.
And there were still more than two hours remaining.