Chapter 823: A Whole New World. 2
As the group ventured further into this world beyond the Gate, the wonder of the paradisiacal scenery unfolded before their eyes, enveloping them in an aura of beauty and serenity that seemed to transcend Nature itself.
The grand trees, covered in foliage of intricate shapes resembling works of art sculpted by Mother Nature, created a natural canopy over the forest. Sunbeams, filtered through the leaves, fell in soft beams, creating patterns of light and shadow that danced upon the trees and the ground in an enchanting waltz.
The grass beneath their feet was soft and lush, a carpet of green that invited barefoot walks and a direct connection with the earth. Small flowers, some with iridescent petals, dotted the grass like precious jewels scattered across a celestial rug. Their scents, sweet and enveloping, filled the air with a fragrance that seemed to heal not only the senses but also the Soul.
The undulating terrain was like a three-dimensional work of art, with gentle hills and serene valleys. Waterfalls of crystal-clear water flowed gracefully, producing soft sounds that harmoniously blended with the melodies of hidden birds that filled the atmosphere with their celestial tunes.
The sky above was a vast expanse of pure, immaculate blue without a single cloud in sight. The sun shone with a gentle golden light, warming the land with tenderness and casting an ethereal glow upon everything it touched. It was as if the very sky smiled upon the land, flooding it with revitalizing Energy.
In this paradisiacal setting, time seemed to flow differently, slower, and more serene. Every sigh of the wind and every sound of nature echoed like a symphony of tranquility and enchantment. The group felt enveloped by a profound and wondrous sense of peace as if they had found a refuge of timeless beauty that existed beyond the boundaries of the world they knew.
"This is... This is... A paradise..." Ruby deeply inhaled the pure air.
"This planet is so full of vitality... It's beautiful..." Sasha murmured as she closed her eyes and felt the wind against her body, her long golden hair fluttering in the breeze.
"Heh heh, of course! I helped create the planet, so of course it would be a paradise!" Gaia spoke proudly, patting her chest.
Nyx rolled her eyes. "You talk as if you did everything by yourself."
"I mean, I did most of it, so yes." Gaia nodded arrogantly. To be honest, even she was surprised—she expected good work, of course, considering she was helping, and if there was one thing she took pride in, it was matters related to Nature and the planet. BUT! She never anticipated such... excellence.
She had never felt so close to Nature before; this planet truly was like paradise.
"Hmm, my Husband will be pleased to hear what you said."
And with just those words from Natalia, Gaia's arrogance was swept away by the wind.
"W-Wait, don't say anything! I didn't do it all by myself, okay! Nyx, and even you helped!"
"Don't forget about me," Jeanne spoke with narrowed eyes.
"Y-Yeah, you too... Actually, who are you? Why do I shiver just looking at you?"
Jeanne just smiled. "Who knows?"
"Kuroka, what are you doing!? Get up!" Haruna snapped at a cat on a tree. Before she even realized it, her commander had turned into a two-tailed cat and gone to sleep.
Kuroka shivered and opened her eyes, her big cat eyes looking at Haruna with visible fear. "B-But, it's so comfy-nya!"
Hearing the 'nya' at the end, Haruna narrowed her eyes even more at the woman.
Literal tears came out of Kuroka's eyes, and the next moment, she transformed into her Humanoid Form and stood up.
"Behave properly."
"Yes..."
"Why did you go to sleep anyway? Didn't you do that before?"
"... This place... It's just too comfortable..."
Violet spoke. "I agree. This place should only be for us."
"I agree with you, too!" Gaia raised her hand.
Agnes and Violet looked at Gaia with a look that said, 'Who asked for your opinion?'
But Gaia herself didn't mind that look and voiced her thoughts. "This is the purest place I've ever seen. I don't want to taint it with the hands of Humanoids, so I suggest keeping this place private."
These words coming from a Primordial Goddess connected to the planet were quite impressive. Despite being in this state due to Victor, the fact that this woman still held prestige was undeniable... Even though most of the time she had felt vengeful and bitter.
But what woman wasn't like that?
"On this specific matter, I agree too. I would feel terrible defiling this place, but we should discuss this with Victor." Aphrodite spoke.
"That's true... After all, he's the owner of this place." Eleonor added. "Not to mention, this planet will become small once we evolve."
Hearing Eleonor's words, the girls widened their eyes; they had completely forgotten about that!
"A Dragon, huh... I wonder how it feels." Sasha mused.
"Seeing how calm and composed Scathach was acting, I think it'll be amazing." Natashia chuckled.
"You're ignoring something obvious." Ruby suddenly spoke.
The girls next to her looked at Ruby.
"Becoming a Dragon means we'll acquire a weakness to Anti-Dragon Weapons."
"... So what?" Violet suddenly spoke.
"Huh?"
"Ruby, this isn't a DC Comic where someone as strong as Superman loses to Batman."
"Do you think if Superman truly tried, Batman could fight him? The only reason Batman could win is because Superman is a Boy Scout."
"The same applies here. As a Dragon, we'd simply breathe on whoever wielded the weapon, and they'd die."
"... Arrogance..." Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Don't underestimate your opponents, Violet."
"I'm not. That's why we should focus on acquiring all the Anti-Dragon-Type Artifacts and destroying them. So that no one can harm us." Violet spoke.
"Batman's caution can give us knowledge too." She chuckled.
Ruby looked at Violet for a few seconds, blinked twice as if those words coming from Violet had struggled to register in her mind, and then smiled. "... I like that idea."
"Regarding the population of the planet... This planet is truly vast; it would take thousands of Dragons to fully inhabit it, and I doubt that's possible." Gaia explained.
"Why isn't that possible?" Haruna asked.
"Remember one of the Rules of The Balance: the stronger you are, the harder it is to have children," Gaia said.
"That's true, but I don't think this rule applies to Victor. After all, he's a Progenitor and someone who likes to defy common sense."
"If that were true, why aren't any of you pregnant yet? After all, you do it whenever possible, and I heard you recently had a year-long battle."
The girls narrowed their eyes when they heard Gaia's words.
"... Where did you hear that?" Aphrodite asked.
"Nyx told me." Gaia pointed at Nyx.
"... Huh?" Nyx spoke bewildered, wondering why her name was suddenly brought into the conversation.
"W-Wait, I didn't say anything to Gaia!" Nyx exclaimed.
"She must have eavesdropped on me or something. After all, she's Nature herself, so she can hear everything as long as it's within Nature."
"Is that true?" Rose asked curiously.
Gaia simply turned her face and started whistling, clearly unwilling to take the blame.
"It was because of this that Zeus didn't have plants on Mount Olympus. He feared that Gaia would overhear his conversations."
"... That's messed up," Eleonor couldn't help but say.
The girls nodded in agreement.
"Now that I think about it, these Goddesses are quite the voyeurs, aren't they?" Sasha began speaking without giving it much thought.
"Nyx can hide from everyone, observe everything and everyone without anyone knowing. Gaia can use her plants to listen and see everything... It's no wonder they turned out like this."
The girls looked at Gaia and Nyx, who seemed scandalized by what they heard.
How did these two Primordial Goddesses end up reduced to mere voyeurs!?
'Well, she's not wrong about the observation part, but it's not like I have fetishes about it!' Nyx thought.
"Whoaaaa! I just realized! Even though I'm in the sun, I'm not getting burned! Amazing!" Pepper suddenly shouted.
Hearing what Pepper said, the Vampire girls in the group widened their eyes.
"That's true!" Sasha exclaimed, looking at the sun with a puzzled expression. 'Why am I not burning?'
"Is that an Artificial Sun?"
"No, it's not," Hestia, who was sitting on the grass, suddenly spoke up. Her eyes gleamed faintly, and with her Divine Senses, she could see beyond the planet.
"That sun is 100% genuine."
"Then why aren't we burning!?" Pepper spoke.
The Goddesses looked at the Vampires and started speaking after a while.
"Interesting... I didn't expect this..." Hestia tapped her chin.
"What? What happened? Quit with the drama and spill already," Violet said.
"You're not getting burned because the Dimension itself is protecting you," Nike said. With their Divine Senses, all the Goddesses here could easily see what was happening to Pepper and all the Vampires.
"Not just them, we're also under this protection..." Gaia spoke, looking at her hand.
"That's true... I wonder if it's Victor doing this or if it's an act of the Dimension itself."
"Victor is the Ruler of this place. Just like Zeus could do in the past on Olympus, he should be able to do the same on a larger scale here. After all, this place is more connected to him than the Olympus Dimension was to Zeus."
Despite being The Ruler of Olympus, Zeus didn't attain this privilege by himself; he 'usurped' it, but he never knew how to properly use these privileges.
Victor might have done the same, but the situation was completely different. He not only usurped this Authority but also reshaped and changed it to his liking.
"Let's walk; we can't just stand around here. We need to build a shelter, and what if powerful beasts appear?" Rose suddenly spoke.
The girls rolled their eyes. What kind of beast would dare approach them? The group present here consisted of Goddesses and powerful warriors; Rose herself could easily dispatch any beast with her Martial Arts.
"No need to worry; this planet doesn't have any wildlife yet," Gaia suddenly spoke.
The girls looked at Gaia with interest.
"That's true; I can't sense any wildlife on the planet," Jeanne suddenly said.
"... You guys don't feel it?" Morgana, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
The girls looked at Morgana.
"What are you talking about?"
"Look in that direction. Don't you feel discomfort?" Morgana suddenly spoke.
"I thought it was just me feeling that..." Mizuki said.
"That strange feeling... It's like being with my Master, but at the same time, not." Kaguya spoke.
They all looked in the direction Morgana pointed, and indeed, they felt a similar discomfort.
"What is this? What is that place...?" Gaia murmured in disbelief. How could this paradise have such an infernal spot?
What Gaia was looking at was a massive piece of land made entirely of Rivers of Blood, red sand terrain, and red storms—the word 'Hell' qualified the place completely.
"Balance... Huh." Nyx suddenly spoke, catching everyone's attention.
Unlike the girls, she was quite familiar with that place.
"Where there's Life, there's Death. If this is Paradise, that's Hell over there. Dualities exist even in this place, and it seems that place represents Victor's 'bad' side."
"Hmm... I don't think so," Violet said.
Sasha and Ruby nodded in agreement.
"That place seems a lot like Victor, right?" Ruby said.
"Yeah, it even has his characteristics," Sasha added.
Hearing the three of them say that, the girls looked at that place again and tried to match it with Victor's personality.
And they realized they were right.
That place was chaotic, infernal, and monstrous, but at the same time, it was welcoming to those who understood it.
A roar in the air was heard, and suddenly, Victor, Scathach, and Zaladrac appeared.
"We're back," Victor said.