"So strong?"
Shichen looked at the churning sea and the towering waterspout, genuinely a little surprised.
Elaina had actually grown this much.
"So now you're scared?" Elaina looked at him provocatively.
"Not really." Shichen shook his head with a faint smile.
"Is that so? Then don't blame me for not holding back."
"You won't get the chance to hold back."
"What do you mea—what?" Elaina's cute face suddenly changed.
All Shichen did was raise a hand and press lightly at the air.
The sea instantly calmed down, and the waterspout vanished out of thin air.
"When it comes to controlling the ocean, you're no match for me," Shichen said.
"I see. So you brought me here on purpose, to your own turf?"
"Not really. It'd be the same anywhere. The sky, the land—it makes no difference."
"I don't believe you. Take this!"
Elaina stopped holding back. She swung her wand, and a violent gale rose around her, sweeping toward Shichen.
The wind pressure was fierce, shrieking like a beast.
But the moment the visible currents were about to touch Shichen, they suddenly disappeared, as if they had never existed.
"How is that possible?!" Elaina stared in disbelief.
"I already told you, I'm this world's administrator. None of your attacks can do anything to me. Give up," Shichen explained.
"So that's how it is…" Elaina wasn't stupid.
"You believe me now?"
"I believe you, but at least show me your strength properly."
Elaina flew closer on her broom.
"Fine. Watch carefully."
Shichen waited until she was close, then raised his hand. Divine power surged, shaking heaven and earth.
"What's going on?!" Elaina was still flying, yet it felt like the sky and ground were trembling.
Even the air was vibrating.
Then she saw something unbelievable.
Three massive shadows appeared in front of Shichen—blue, red, and green.
The colors condensed into solid form, becoming enormous beasts.
A blue fish, a red beast, and a green dragon.
And that wasn't all—they kept changing.
They grew even bigger.
Golden markings appeared on the blue fish, molten patterns spread across the red beast, and golden streamers sprouted from the green dragon.
The three gathered together, and facing them directly, Elaina found herself unable to breathe.
It felt like the sea, the earth, and the sky were all right in front of her, pressing down on her so hard she didn't dare move.
It was like the end of the world.
"Well? Satisfied now?"
Seeing that Elaina was about to collapse under the pressure, Shichen withdrew Rayquaza and the others.
"Haa… I really thought I was going to die."
Only then did Elaina feel like she could breathe again. She panted hard, her chest rising and falling.
Shichen glanced down by habit. There was definitely something there.
Yeah, way more than Frieren.
"All right, let's head back."
Shichen took Elaina back to the café.
Elaina didn't bother acting reserved. She dropped into a stool, then slumped forward over the table.
"The gap is way too huge. We're not even on the same level."
"Well, I am the administrator of this world."
"What exactly were those things? They were terrifying," Elaina asked, turning her face sideways on the table to look at him.
"They're my companions. You can think of them as incarnations of the world."
"Incarnations of the world?"
"Yeah. Incarnations of the land, the sky, and the sea."
"Seriously?" Elaina really didn't want to believe it.
This was completely shattering her worldview.
She was only a witch. In her world, anything involving time was already considered taboo-level. But here, there were literal embodiments of the world itself.
And yet she had no choice but to believe it, because she'd just faced them herself.
"Didn't you see them clearly enough?" Shichen walked behind the counter and started making coffee.
"I guess…" Elaina gave up and accepted it.
Shichen watched her, smiled, and kept brewing.
Ash-gray hair, a witch's outfit, a cute face—any normal person would be drawn to her at first glance.
And that girl's name was Elaina.
Of course Shichen was drawn to her too. He couldn't help wanting to make her a cup of coffee.
Elaina still looked a little lost, leaning against the table in silence.
The only sounds in the shop were running water and the growing aroma of coffee.
Shichen finished brewing, poured a cup, and set it in front of her.
"Try it."
"Oh, okay." Elaina sat up and held the cup, blowing on it a few times.
"It smells amazing."
She took a small sip.
The rich flavor lingered beautifully, and the warmth spread through her body, relaxing her.
"Well?" Shichen sat across from her and asked with a smile.
"Mm, it's good!"
"Glad it suits your taste." Shichen took a sip of his own coffee.
"What about that girl from before?" Elaina suddenly asked.
"You mean Kato Megumi? She went to another world."
"Kato Megumi? Is she as strong as you?"
"Yeah."
"Then the two of you…" Curiosity flashed in Elaina's eyes.
"That's right. She's my wife."
"Oh~"
"But she's not my only wife."
"Hm?" Elaina froze.
"The others are in different worlds right now. You could say they're on vacation."
"The others?" Elaina raised a brow.
"Yeah. I have a lot of wives." Shichen smiled and admitted it openly.
"…"
Elaina had expected some kind of divine couple.
Turns out it was a whole group of divine couples.
"They're all very strong too. You wouldn't be a match for them."
"That makes sense." Elaina didn't sound unwilling to admit it.
If Shichen was that powerful, then of course his wives wouldn't be ordinary.
"So what are you planning to do now? Go back? I can send you back directly."
"Go back…" Elaina paused, then remembered something and looked at him. "By the way, why do you know my name?"
"I'm this world's administrator. The moment you arrived here, I knew who you were." Shichen casually made up an excuse.
"I see…" Elaina nodded, not doubting him.
"Then why did I come here? What exactly was that hole? Could it appear again?"
"Hard to say. But it should probably only appear around you."
"What do you mean?"
"Because you have something of mine inside you. It wants to return to me, so it opened that hole," Shichen explained.
He hadn't finished collecting all the divine fragments yet, but he no longer needed to actively search for them. They would now start trying to return to him on their own.
"I have something of yours? What is it?" Elaina instinctively glanced down at herself.
"Heh. It's not on you. It's inside you."
"Inside me? Seriously?"
"Why would I lie? Otherwise, would you have ended up in this world for no reason?"
"When you put it like that… I guess not."
"Then go ahead and take it back," Elaina said casually.
"I can't take it yet." Shichen shook his head.
"You can't? Why not?"
"There are conditions that need to be met first. For now, they can't be," he said.
In truth, he could take it right now.
But then he might not be able to keep Elaina here.
And he had no intention of letting her leave that easily.
"Conditions? What conditions?" Elaina pressed.
"No rush. Tell me what you plan to do first."
"No rush? Then good. I'm planning to look around and see how this world is different from mine." Elaina smiled.
"Is that so."