Kousuke, who had been holding his head after hearing Silvia’s story, couldn’t back out now.
Given the expectant gazes of the goddesses he had seen in Asura’s divine realm, this was only natural.
Regarding Kousuke’s Shrine being at the center, Kousuke had contacted Eris about it, but she had simply replied with surprise, “You didn’t realize!?”
As expected, or perhaps as was typical, Eris and the others had permitted the Divine Power Summon with full knowledge. Kousuke, realizing he could not turn back either emotionally or logically, found himself truly understanding what it meant to have one’s retreat cut off. The women, witnessing Kousuke’s dejected state at the time, wore complex expressions, unsure whether to comfort him, be exasperated, or simply ignore him.
And so, the day of the summon arrived.
In front of the Lily Shrine on the 8th Floor, about thirty related individuals had gathered for the occasion. Kousuke was there, of course, along with members of the Tower’s management, Crown personnel, and Razek Amamiya personnel. The representatives from Crown and Razek Amamiya were mostly a few individuals from the upper echelons, meaning only those who regularly interacted with Kousuke were present. Unlike the previous Divine Power Summon, there was no need for a performance this time, so only the minimum necessary people were called.
By the way, this was the first time the children would witness Kousuke performing a Divine Power Summon. While they had heard about it from their mothers, they had never actually seen it. Therefore, children like Towa and the others watched their father’s majestic (or perhaps not-so-majestic) figure with a bit of restlessness, eager for the moment to arrive.
This time, with only relevant personnel present unlike before, Kousuke felt no tension. Even for the second time, a Divine Power Summon was a demanding task. Therefore, the fact that he wouldn’t be as embarrassed if something went wrong as the last time made him feel significantly more at ease. Although he wasn’t whistling a tune, Kousuke, in a relaxed mood, prepared himself and immediately began the incantation for the Divine Power Summon.
As soon as Kousuke began his incantation, Kokoro was the first to react. “Amazing…” she muttered, and then held her breath, watching Kousuke. However, there was no one beside her who could respond to her. Since the other children had gathered around Kokoro, they could all feel the magnitude of what Kousuke was doing, to varying degrees. With each progression of Kousuke’s incantation, all the children, except for the very young ones, were awestruck by the torrent of power gathering around him. Mia, in particular, who regularly interacted with Kousuke in the management layer, watched him chant without a word. Of course, beyond Mia and Kokoro, the others also recognized Kousuke anew as an Avatar, seeing his unusual demeanor.
While the children were impressed with their father, Kousuke’s wives observed the ritual with a slightly different sensibility. “I see. So this is a Divine Power Summon,” Floria murmured. Colette responded, “This is certainly not something an ordinary person can do.” “We couldn’t do it either,” Silvia replied with a wry smile to Colette’s words, and Peach nodded in agreement. “We can’t use divine power as skillfully as Mr. Kousuke,” Peach added. The current Divine Power Summon Kousuke was performing involved the use of a great deal of divine power. In addition, it required meticulous manipulation to execute the summon. Even Shurein and the others were far more adept at handling divine power than most people in this world. However, Kousuke’s divine power manipulation surpassed even theirs.
Without taking his eyes off Kousuke, Shurein let out a sigh of admiration. “…So, this level of skill is essential for performing a Divine Power Summon.” “Is that so?” Silvia’s response, negating Shurein’s statement, drew the gaze of the others. “What do you mean?” “While I cannot say for certain as I didn’t witness the previous summon directly, I believe it has been altered since that time,” Silvia explained, causing the women’s gazes to shift back to Kousuke. “…Now that you mention it, that might be the case. But Silvia, you noticed quite well.” Kousuke had watched the previous Divine Power Summon on a monitor, so he hadn’t had the sensory experience he was feeling now. He had simply observed the incantation and the like, and hadn’t noticed any differences until she pointed them out. “I am a Shrine Maiden,” Silvia stated, implying that it was natural for a cleric to know about Divine Power Summoning. The others nodded in understanding. They realized that Silvia had thoroughly researched Kousuke’s incantation and the summoning circle after the previous Divine Power Summon.
As they were conversing, Silvia noticed that the ritual being performed before them was nearing its end. “…It’s about to finish,” she said. At her words, the other women also silenced themselves and focused their attention on Kousuke. Just as Silvia had predicted, Kousuke completed the final incantation, and the summoning circle that had been deployed to summon the god vanished with a large flash of light. And then, as planned, three goddesses appeared.
The dignitaries from Razek Amamiya gasped as they looked at the goddesses who had appeared before them. They were now physically experiencing how different it was to hear about something and to see it with their own eyes. Of course, this was also due to the power emanating from the summoned goddesses. Kousuke, who was conversing with them familiarly and without being affected, despite having summoned them himself, made them understand the meaning of the word “Avatar.” Though they hadn’t intended to, they were once again reminded of the futility of rebelling against the gods.
The Crown personnel, including Schmidt, watched them with a mixture of wry smiles and sympathy. Having experienced firsthand how much of an impact a Divine Power Summon could have when viewed up close, they understood their feelings well. The reason Schmidt and the others could watch with a degree of composure was that this was their second experience with a Divine Power Summon. If this had been their first experience, they would undoubtedly have reacted in the same way. In fact, that’s exactly what had happened during the first summon, so there was no denying it. Moreover, even if it was the second time, the pressure exerted by the gods was not something one could get accustomed to. Seeing Kousuke standing calmly before the gods, Schmidt and the others felt the same sense of awe.
Unaware of the impression he was making on those watching the summon, Kousuke was leisurely chatting with Eris and the others he had summoned. “Alright, I’m counting on you,” Kousuke said. “Of course! Leave it to us!” Jal replied with puffed-out chest. Eris, glancing at Jal, asked, “Still, this Divine Power Summon seems to have undergone significant modifications, doesn’t it?” “Ah, that. I thought it would be boring if it was exactly the same as before, so I decided to try something,” Kousuke replied casually. Spica sighed and muttered, “It’s not something you can just dismiss with ‘I tried something.'” Kousuke didn’t hear Spica’s murmur; it would take a little more time for him to realize what he had done.
The second Divine Power Summon has concluded. Kousuke casually made modifications, but this is not something that would happen under normal circumstances. The original Divine Power Summon is already a completed process, and modifying it is impossible, which is common sense even for the goddesses.
