DanMachi: Annihilation Maker in DanMachi World!

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Everything stated above was entirely reasonable. However, there was one detail Lucian hadn't mentioned, and Scheherazade acutely grasped the core of the issue.

"Then, what is the price of becoming a resident of the Divine Court?"

Scheherazade asked.

Becoming a resident within a God's divine realm undoubtedly came with unimaginable benefits.

But to say there was absolutely no price? That was impossible.

Leaving everything else aside, the most fundamental rule was that residents of a divine realm belonged to the God who ruled it. This was an unspoken rule that didn't even need to be explicitly stated.

"Faith."

"Loyalty."

"Purity."

Lucian stated clearly, "The first two can be cultivated over time. The third requirement is to maintain your own purity."

"Once you join the Divine Court, you are strictly forbidden from having overly intimate relationships with other men."

"If this rule is broken, you will be judged by my Divine Avatar. At the absolute minimum, your memories regarding the Divine Court will be erased, all blessings and benefits obtained through it will be revoked, and you will be banished back to your original world."

"Isn't that just being a harem candidate?" Yamraiha couldn't hold it in and blurted out her complaint.

Hearing the phrase 'harem candidate,' Ren Kougyoku's face flushed bright red, her eyes spinning in dizzying spirals.

"That's not entirely wrong, but it's not entirely right either," Lucian nodded, unfazed. "Because residents of the Divine Court only have two choices: either me, or remaining single."

"Under absolutely no circumstances will I ever force myself upon anyone. That is my baseline integrity as the Lord of this world."

To be frank, Scheherazade, Ren Kougyoku, and Yamraiha were undeniably beautiful women, but Lucian wasn't desperate to force them into his harem.

If they chose to leave this world, Lucian would safely send them back without a single ounce of negative emotion in his heart.

Lucian had laid out his conditions crystal clear. If they chose to join, enjoyed numerous blessings, witnessed the wonders of the multiverse, and then suddenly 'regretted' their choice to run off with someone else... how was that any different from cuckolding him?

Ultimately, Lucian wasn't desperate for them. After all, his Divine Court was destined to connect with the myriad worlds in the future.

For beauties of their caliber—in terms of character, appearance, and temperament—even if he only picked three or four per world, across the infinite, shifting sands of the multiverse, gathering a population of hundreds, millions, or even hundreds of millions was entirely possible.

Besides, with energy sources no longer an issue, Lucian was even considering just creating wives for himself from scratch.

"Well... when you put it like that..." Ren Kougyoku was a bit dumbfounded. It actually sounded somewhat reasonable?

"Look at it this way. I am the only man in the Divine Court."

Lucian pointed out, "If you wanted to marry someone else, you'd obviously have to find a man outside the Divine Court, right?"

"That is true..." Ren Kougyoku couldn't help but nod.

It made perfect sense. It wasn't like girls could just start a yuri romance with each other, right?

Of course, Ren Kougyoku was innocent and hadn't fully considered the implications of that last thought.

In reality, there were specific rules regarding that as well. Intimate interactions between women—even slightly excessive ones—were perfectly fine, but they couldn't hold any genuine romantic intentions toward each other. It had to remain purely playful.

Getting cucked by another woman was still getting cucked. Even if the betrayal felt slightly less offensive, a betrayal was still a betrayal.

"The Divine Court grants you resources, cultivation systems, unique skills, eternal life, absolute safety, and the opportunity to traverse the multiverse..."

Lucian paused before continuing, "But if you suddenly decide to leave 'for love' after taking all of that, wouldn't that make me the ultimate cuckold, raising a perfect wife just to hand her off to someone else?"

"That makes so much sense..." Ren Kougyoku agreed enthusiastically. "That would be way too cruel!"

She was the most innocent one here and hadn't thought too deeply about the underlying implications.

However, Scheherazade and Yamraiha could also understand his reasoning. His logic was undeniably sound. But the most important point of all was—there was no coercion.

"If you are forced to live a life you hate, you can at least complain that you didn't get to choose how you were born, that you never asked your parents to bring you into the world... But between joining the Divine Court and refusing to join, there is zero coercion. It is a choice made entirely of your own free will."

Lucian shrugged. "Joining for the sake of benefits, leaving for the sake of benefits... I don't welcome ungrateful wretches who bite the hand that feeds them here."

Gaining access to the resources of a God's realm just by adhering to a few simple rules? That was an absolute steal, alright?

As for those coerced by external factors, Lucian's Divine Avatar wasn't a rigid, unfeeling machine. Its judgment in such matters was highly empathetic.

Just as he had reverted Scheherazade's age as an 'apology gift,' if Ren Kougyoku and Yamraiha ultimately chose to leave, he would still allow them to use the Spring of Life before sending them off.

If they were forced by external threats—such as facing life-threatening danger—Lucian would make exceptions and help teleport them somewhere safe.

If it wasn't too much trouble, such as an entire family being in danger, Lucian would even help relocate the entire family.

He was already being incredibly generous. If they looked down on his offer, they could leave. But trying to freeload off him was crossing the line.

"I understand the general situation now."

Scheherazade pondered for a moment before saying, "So we have twelve hours to consider our options, correct?"

"Yes." Lucian nodded. "I have plenty of free time, so I can act as your guide."

"Having the Lord Creator act as our guide... that's a lot of pressure," Ren Kougyoku muttered nervously.

"You don't need to look at it like that. I myself don't possess the world-shaking power of a true God."

Lucian smiled warmly. "My physical strength is only slightly higher than an ordinary person's. I merely utilize a power system from another world. I'm essentially just an adventurer."

"Does that mean your divine power is separated from your physical body?" Scheherazade asked thoughtfully.

"Exactly." Lucian nodded. "To use a Dungeon Capturer as an analogy: my current state is like a warrior without their Metal Vessel. My Godly state is equivalent to a Djinn Equip. It's just that both versions of me can exist simultaneously."

If both can exist simultaneously, isn't that practically the same thing?

Even so, the three of them were noticeably less tense than before. Lucian really was quite approachable.

"I see," Ren Kougyoku realized, her expression clearing. Put in those terms, it was much easier to understand.

"So you don't need to be nervous. In truth, this world hasn't existed for very long, and it's far from perfect."

Lucian continued, "When I'm not directly manipulating the world's admin privileges, I'm really just a normal adventurer."

"I haven't even been an adventurer for very long. The appearance you see right now is my actual age."

"That really is quite young." Scheherazade looked at Lucian in surprise.

The other two were equally surprised. After all, a youthful Creator... was a bit too youthful.

For a normal human, he was a young man in his prime. But for a God, he was practically a toddler. It made a strange, unexplainable emotion bubble up inside them.

"As for the tour, let's start by introducing the statue."

Lucian chuckled.

They were the first batch. In the future, when Lucian eventually grew tired of playing the guide, he would naturally create dedicated Guide Spirits to handle the task.

But for now, he was quite interested in playing the role. It scratched a certain itch to show off his creations.

"The statue governs faith. Through prayer—whether it's faith directed towards me personally, towards the Divine Court, or towards this world as a whole—it can be condensed into the power of faith."

Lucian explained, "The statue stores this power of faith. Residents can choose to expend this accumulated power to receive various types of blessings and buffs."

He didn't really need the power of faith for himself, so he simply implemented a system of taking from the people to use for the people.

By accumulating enough faith power to exchange for blessings, Lucian would skim a ten percent tax off the top to store away for emergencies.

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