Shortly after Orion successfully won against his other self.

Before his real body changed according to the awakening of his demon blood, he found himself back in the dark and empty void, in front of the fire beast, Diramoi.

"Why am I here? Didn't I succeeded the trials?"

Orion looked at the creature with frustration.

"Be patient, Orion. Your body is adjusting to the changes."

"I see."

With no other choice than to wait, he sat on the ground, or what was supposed to be the ground, and closed his eyes, remembering everything that he did so far.

"While you wait, I will answer one of your question. Ask anything, but only what I can offer. There are many things I do not know."

With a dry smile, he remembered his ancestors. He nodded, and looked into the eyes of the large beast.

"What-..."

He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence, before frowning.

'What are you?'

Was what he wanted to know, but in reality, it wasn't the question in his mind.

"Why Amelia, Deveralna, and Elliott? Why did they appear?"

Surprise seemed to take over Diramoi, as it slowly stretched his massive neck upward. It looked at Orion with confusion, before he understood.

"During the fourth trial? The three individuals who appeared?"

"Yes. I know all of them."

Diramoi's head dropped closer to his level, before he continued.

"For the man, the trial itself brought him. He represented your largest fear and despair, but also your determination to push forward."

"The two women's cases are more complicated."

Leaving a long silence, Orion felt like asking another question.

"Behind Amelia were many weapons I did not recognize. Why is that?"

I knew that Diramoi had no reason to answer him since he already asked his question, yet, the giant creature gifted him the answer nonetheless.

"They are in some way related to me. One by blood, one by contract. With a single glance, I understood one, but the other, it was way difficult."

"I extracted all the information into that woman currently available. Her actual abilities aren't awakened, but just like you are, they need to be awakened."

"But by any means, do not try to bring them out. This is something she has to bring out by herself."

Orion shook his head.

"I had no plan to. I am only fueled by curiosity."

"Then, I have nothing to warn you about."

The flames around the giant being suddenly disappeared, with Diramoi.

"It is time. Your body has adjusted to the change."

His voice kept echoing in the void while Orion's vision turned darker.

"There was also an... unexpected evolution happening at the same time you've undertaken the trials. It worked very hard, which was rewarded accordingly."

Before recovering his consciousness, one last sentence entered his ears.

"Orion, congratulations."

~

Two days later, the day of the picnic.

The ones who prepared everything were the most thorough: Amelia, Dramia, and May. Henrietta also helped when she could, but ended up being mainly bothered by Tetra, who couldn't stop talking.

Amelia and Dramia focused on preparing their meals, with Olivia's help.

May took time to carefully double-check that everything was packed correctly. Deveralna ended up joining her, as it looked liked hard work.

Orion was taking care of his little girl, who was so excited she was unable to contain herself.

Senia and Drania already went to the beach, to choose the picnic spot. Senia searched for a place that had not many algae and shallow enough for Stella, while Drania mainly came to play, but got bored a few minutes later because she was alone. Instead, she seriously searched for the perfect place to settle their little picnic area where Senia told her to.

This ended up leaving Karteira, who was left with nothing to do. She was feeling guilty not being useful, but no one was really bothered by it. She joined Orion and Stella at one point.

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Everything proceeded smoothly, and before noon, they were on their way to the Siren Sea.

...

"Orion, help me set up the blanket."

"Sure."

Karteira and Orion each took a corner of the neatly folded blanket, and spread it on the sand.

"Alright, let's place everything. It's almost lunchtime."

Stella sat on the blanket after removing her shoes, and smiled brightly while looking at the sea, and everyone around her.

"They should be waiting at their respective portals, so I'll go get everyone."

Orion warped away suddenly, leaving everyone to their own devices.

"Let's pick up the pace, then. The faster we are done, the earliest we'll be able to go into the sea."

The large blanket could receive more than twenty people on it. It was perfect for this sort of event.

A portal opened further away from the group, where Orion and six other people walked out of it.

Three couples joined the event, at the request of various members.

A group asked for Kamala and Florian to join. Florian appeared pretty calm, but Kamala wasn't at all. She was quite embarrassed.

The second couple was asked to join by May. Eric and his wife, Caroline, happily joined everyone. They rarely had the opportunity to go out of Turric, so they were happy to come.

The last request came from Orion. He wanted to see Dylan again, who agreed, but asked that Eliza came with him. There was no reason to refuse.

"Hello everyone."

"Thank you for having us."

Eric and Caroline greeted everyone and followed Drania, who decided to choose seats for everyone. They both sat next to May after being leaded there.

"This is so embarrassing..."

"Am I embarrassing you? If so, I can always leave-"

"No! It's no you. I just not used to it yet."

Kamala suddenly felt many gazes on her, so she looked around, and saw that they were grinning at her.

"Hi. Will you follow me to your seat?"

Drania suddenly popped in front of her, and politely asked while pointing behind her with her thumb.

"O-Oh. Sure."

"Please."

Florian grabbed Kamala's hand and followed Drania, which made them seat next to Amelia and Deveralna. Tetra inched her way out of Henrietta's grasp and joined them a few minutes later.

"Here, follow me."

Orion personally led Dylan and Eliza toward their seat, where they sat next to him and Stella.

"Oh! Is that the girl that you've adopted?"

Eliza looked at Stella, who was smiling happily.

"Yes, this is Stella. I've taken her in after a few things happened to her. She's my daughter."

"I see."

Dylan nodded. He liked that about Orion.

"Can I hug you?"

Stella looked at the white-haired beastwoman, before nodding shyly.

"Can I?"

She looked at Orion and asked for confirmation.

"Sure."

"Thank you."

Eliza gently moved behind Stella, picked her up, and sat her on her lap. She then caressed her hair while hugging her small body.

"I had no idea little girls were so delicate. Now I wish I had a daughter."

"You will have to settle for a granddaughter."

"That's good too, but maybe we can-"

"Not now. Later."

Dylan frowned and made sure those words kept sealed around Stella.

"Oh... Sorry."

Everyone began to happily chat between each other, until it was time to eat.

...

With a smile, Orion finally relaxed. Groups were forming around the blanket, breaking and forming with other members.

'Family and friends...'

When he closed his eyes, he could see his parents with him. They were always with him, from the day he was born, to this very moment.

He was suddenly brought back to reality when the girls talked about going into the sea.

"Everyone has their swimsuit?"

Amelia asked, before looking at everyone.

Even the guests nodded, expect Dylan and Eliza. They were the type to walk along the beach together instead.

Orion snapped his fingers, and a portal appeared.

"I know some of you haven't changed. This leads inside the house."

"Thank you."

Deveralna, Senia, May, Stella, Henrietta, and Karteira entered the portal. They returned a few minutes later wearing their brand-new swimsuits.

The rest were already wearing it, so they simply removed the clothes above them.

All the while, Orion closed his eyes to avoid making this unfair for the others.

"Papa."

Hearing the voice of his sweet daughter, Orion opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was her smile as she waved at him.

She was wearing a cute white one-piece swimsuit with long sleeves. It showed a spiraling line that went from top to bottom, made of frills.

"You look great in it."

Orion nodded, and genuinely smiled at her. Just seeing her this happy made his day.

"Hehe~"

Stella turned around and joined the others, who waited for Orion's opinion.

"So, do you have anything to say?"

The group was broken in two: the composed and the embarrassed.

Amelia, Drania, Deveralna, Karteira, and Tetra were all waiting with a smile on their faces, while Dramia, Senia, Henrietta, May, and Olivia couldn't look straight while fidgeting around.

"..."

His eyes wide opened, it took everything he had to avoid having Silka's sigil activate.

Starting with the ones who were proud of their body, Orion looked at them one by one. Then, he looked at the other group.

There wasn't very much to differentiate the swimsuits apart from their colors, but still, it was a sight for sore eyes.

They were all wearing a two-pieces swimsuit that showed their stomach completely. Their proportions were so captivating that he forgot to breathe for a minute, until he blinked.

"So?"

His head slowly turned to Karteira, who asked the question.

She was wearing a cerulean blue, similar to her hair color. She wore jeans shorts over her swimsuit, unbuttoned.

Amelia was wearing white, but she was also wearing a see-through shirt over her top.

The twins were wearing a lime green two-pieces with opposite covers on one side around their hips.

May wore a black swimsuit, with her shoulders completely covered, made to contrast with her snow-white skin. It had long frills created to hide as much of her skin as possible, per her request. Only parts of her stomach were visible.

Olivia wore a lemon-yellow dress that stopped at her knees. She also wore a straw hat that she used to hid her face with. She was trying to hide her chest at the same time, which was larger than everyone thought.

The specially made swimsuit made for Deveralna and Senia were similar in a way, since their body couldn't wear the same bottom part.

Instead, it was composed in two parts. Under a side cover dress, a piece of clothes tightly wrapped around what was supposedly their hips.

It hid perfectly what needed to be hidden, without fearing to reveal them. The cover acted as a second security, while also being considered a dress.

Senia was wearing a deep blue swimsuit with frills on her chest and dress parts, while Deveralna had a crimson red with less frilly parts.

Tetra and Henrietta weren't in the group of Orion's lovers, but still, he observed them carefully.

While Henrietta was wearing a relatively more mature design, she had a ribbon sewn to her chest piece, and one on the right side of her bottom piece. Of course, it was the same color as her daughter, a clear white.

The one being impossible to ignore was Tetra. Her rosy pink swimsuit was so prominent, Orion had to look away. The worst part was, she had the larger breasts of the group. At least, he wasn't interested in her, which in a way, made her sad.

"You all look gorgeous."

He stood up, and joined with everyone, while the other couples watched silently with a smile.

"Thank you."

"Alright, everyone, let's go!"

Amelia and Karteira grabbed Orion's wrists, and pulled him toward the water.

"Shall we follow?"

Eric said, before they all went their separate way to spend time with their significant other.