Not from this world? What is this guy-Well, he's 100% right though, so I can't exactly refute him on that. Still, everything about this guy is already super weird as is, from his uncanny resemblance to Meil, to his motives to climb the tallest mountain in the world, and even the fact that he immediately replied to us in Entrop-err, English in a country where no one speaks it. Seriously, there's no way that's the first conclusion someone would jump to after hearing me mention Iros without context.
"I see. So you really are not." Meil then glanced at Issei, "The same cannot be said for you, so what is the meaning of this?"
"Geez, what gave me away?" Issei widened his Eyes with his hands to make them look more slanted, "That being the case, how'd you figure Lune out that fast?"
"Oi, where you going!?" I called out to him as he started walking away.
"To a place where no one can hear what I am about to say." He motioned for us to follow him somewhere, "Do not drag your feet. Failure to comply will result in immediate incineration."
"Incineration!? That's such a cool word to threaten us with, I'm honored!" Issei bowed deeply.
As such, we speedily walked through the crowded streets and alleyways until we had made it to one abandoned building. Wondering if this is truly going to be the place we die in, Issei and I steeled our resolve and psyched ourselves up with a mutual "No balls" dare to follow this Meil up the stairs. A grueling climb up about 30 stories later, and we had made it to our destination - The rooftop.
"Hey, come on, what's this about incineration." Issei jeered.
"Nothing more than a means to fix the blunder we have created." Meil sighed, ignoring us as he surveyed 4 points in the far-off distance, "I make no mistakes though, so it must have been one of those guys, surely."
"What's this? Do I hear whiny excuses coming from you?" Issei continued to tease him, "Seriously, back when you said it, I was genuinely scared of that incineration threat, but now I definitely think you're harmless~"
"In truth, I usually burn a hole through any troublemakers' brains whenever a situation like this arises, but never before has a Universe-Leaper appeared in this Universe Cycle, so I'm willing to hear you out for now."
"Eep!"
"Wait, Universe Cycle?" I recognized the term, "Meil, you know of this?"
"Meil, that is indeed what you call me for whatever reason, but... That is not my name." He turned back to face us in front of the setting Sun, "Traveler from afar, bow your head, for you are in the presence of the one true God of Sun, Ouroboras."
Ouroboras? Eh, Sun God!? Geez, he looks identical to Meil, what the hell... Wait, does that mean Aru's lover looked like this back before he went missing? Geez, she'd definitely confuse the two if she met them, I wouldn't at all put it past her. I mean, hell, even we got the two mixed up.
"Sun God, huh?" Issei made a difficult face, "No but, that's not right. This world already has its own Gods, from Zoroaster to Allah, to Buddha and even Yahweh, just to name a few."
"The Five Gods are the only constant in every Universe Cycle." Ouroboras replied, "The fact that we keep ourselves hidden from you mortals is one thing, but we do not mind you inventing your own idols to worship. After all, it distracts you mortals from looking into us, which makes it easier for us to hide in plain sight."
Wow, so even in Issei's world, the Five Gods exist and roam it. So does that mean that Aru, Auros and the others are somewhere out there as well? It doesn't mean that much to me, but I wonder how Issei is taking it. Surely, if you're suddenly told by someone presenting themselves as the God of this world that all your other ones are fake, any normal person would be rolling on the ground sobbing, trying to make sense of it all.
"So you're the God of this world..." Issei then gave him a serious glare, "Which means if I pray for you to give me a catgirl maid to do my every bidding, you'll listen, right?"
Then again, Issei is anything but 'any normal person'...
"Dude, you already have Othelia and Eleanor." I punched his arm.
"And? A maid and a girlfriend are two different things!"
"Speaking from experience as someone whose girlfriend worked as a maid, that's absolutely false!" I shouted, "I know what you plan to make that maid do, dumbass! You can't fool someone who's done it himself!"
"...Right, in any case." Ouroboras looked unamused, "Maybe Prylos would be willing to assist you in this endeavor, given he is the one most known for granting wishes, but I am afraid you have come to the wrong person for that. Ask me to make the rain go away next time it comes by, that is about all the requests a mortal can make that I am willing to put up with."
"Oh right, you're the Sun God, after all." Issei remained undeterred however, "Then where's Pry?"
"Pry..." Ouroboras squinted angrily, "Him and the other Gods should also be preparing for the meet on top of Mount Everest."
"Great, then we'll also-!"
"Stand down, mortal." His Eyes glew a bright White, "Humans have no business with us Gods. I am merely explaining all this to you because you two come from a different world. This is an outside factor that must at best be rectified, and at worst destroyed."
"Destroyed!?" I jumped.
"Yes." His body once again glew brightly as the temperature around us rose, "Explain to me, in great detail - Who you are, traveler. How you got here. And whether or not you plan to return before long, if at all. Remember, failure to comply will lead to immediate incineration."
----------------------------------------
***
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
----------------------------------------
"Lune Grimheart of Whitehood, Issei Kaido of Chiba..." He finished hearing out our backstories, "You know, I asked about how you got here, and yet you mostly talked about your love for adventuring, the people you've met on your travels, and to top it all off, you placed a very large emphasis on your lovers instead of this odd 'wish system' you glossed over. Incineration it is."
"Hold it, hold it!" We stopped him before our brains got steamed, "You were the one who asked for us to be as detailed as possible!"
"Oh." He stopped, "That I did. Then for now, you will be spared."
"Phew..."
"Tomfoolery aside, I can tell from both of your stories that you yourselves are not here to cause trouble and are determined to undo your actions." He nodded, "At least one of you..."
"What are you looking at me for?" Issei glared back at him.
"Issei Kaido, you are permitted to stay here, as it is your home world. These girls whom you speak of, however..."
"They're coming with me." Issei adamantly shot back, "I just gotta go reopen the path to here, send Lune back and have him tell them to come here, that's all."
"I do not think you understand, so I will repeat myself." Ouroboras threatened, "I do not know what our views on Universe-Leapers are in the world you just came from, but I can say with certainty that we Gods to not tolerate it here. Lune shall be spared because he was dragged into this world by complete accident and wishes to return to his rightful place, but I assure you that bringing those two girls to this world under some selfish desire to have them stay here permanently will only result in us killing them the moment they arrive."
"Don't you dare lay a finger on them!" Issei protested.
"Say what you will, but our job as the Gods of this world is to maintain a stable state of equilibrium." He rebuked, "In a stable circuit, even one unstable component can render the entire thing useless."
"Then how come Lune's world was completely fine even though I've lived there for over a decade, huh!?" Issei then grunted, "Tch, you're full of shit, Sun God."
"I-Issei!" I tried calming him down.
"Lune, I'm right, and you know I am." He turned to me, "This guy doesn't know what he's talking about, but he's still forbidding me from being with the ones I love. Hell, had we not bumped into him on that intersection, we would have walked right past each other and he never would have even known you aren't from here!"
That's certainly true, but the fact of the matter is that this guy is the literal God of the world. You can be defiant with your mom, dad, guardian, hell even your friends and enemies, but this is the one person you should at the very least keep your mouth shut when talking to him. This guy, he looks like Meil, but he's extremely violent and doesn't listen to a word anyone else says. It's a bit nostalgic and reminds me of the time we first met back in Oden, but it's also kinda sad... This isn't Meil, though.
"Do you seriously believe the Gods would let such an issue slip by unnoticed?" Ouroboras furrowed his brow, "We can see everything and everyone, except in two cases - If the person we are observing is a God, and if the person is not of this world. It does not take a genius to figure out that something is wrong if we see more than 5 people's "shadowy figures" out in the world. And after we do, then every single one of us will immediately go running to look for them. Just be glad I was the one that found you first, cause the other Gods are not at all patient like me."
"Oh yeah? Well we'll just have to see about that." Issei pointed to himself with his thumbs, "We're coming with you to that meet, and when we do, I'll get the other Gods' blessings on bringing Othelia and Eleanor over."
"That will not..."
"And when I do, I'm SO gonna be rubbing my happiness in your face." Issei talked over him, "I'll be all like: Hah, told you so!"
"That is enough-"
"Bahaha! What's that? You're getting mad already? I haven't even done it yet, and you already know I'm right!"
"Shut your mouth!" Ouroboras ordered, "Shut it, or I will personally melt your lips together!"
"You don't scare m-OW! What the-!?" Issei felt the corners of his lips start to fuse together, "Fine, I'll stop, I'll stop!"
"Good."
"But we are going to the top of the mountain with you." I added.
"What?"
"Well yeah, we need to visit all the World Wonders in order to get our wish, but we'd like your help with that if possible." I explained, "It'll be easier if we have an all-knowing God to help us, and besides, you said it's in your best interest to send me back as well."
"That is true..." He weighed his options, "Yet still, you just cannot seem to fathom what I am constantly warning you about. The Gods on that mountain are merciless. You do realize that only a small percentage of mountain climbers that challenge Mount Everest never return, right?"
"Yeah, it's a difficult climb, after all." Issei shrugged, "But with you, someone who can just summon warm Sun balls, it should be easier for us, right?"
"I was not talking about that." Ouroboras shook his head, "No, the trek up the mountain is difficult, yes, but people have managed to scale it even without equipment before. No, the true problem for the mountain climbers that never returned arrived when they came face to face with a God. Such a fate would lead to each one cursing the fact that they didn't run into a monster or beast instead, before getting ripped apart limb from limb for finding out a piece of forbidden divine knowledge, that being our existence."
What? The Gods... kill... those who find out about them...? On sight? That's insane, then how are we gonna convince them to let Othelia and Eleanor stay here? Dammit, another setback...