After Souta finished sending the information, he stared at the newcomer's nickname, deep in thought.
Luo Hao... If nothing unexpected happens, it should be that "Martial King" from Campione!, who lives in seclusion in southern China and is a god-slaying devil king on par with Marquis Voban.
"A troublesome personality has joined…" Souta felt a headache coming on.
Because the task of mediating everyone's relationships will inevitably fall on him as the group admin.
As for Athena... Souta wasn't sure who that was yet.
The one from Saint Seiya?
The one from Honor of Kings?
Or maybe one of the many Athenas from universes like Little Garden, Type-Moon, or DanMachi?
Or perhaps, simply the stockings-wearing goddess Athena from Campione!?
While Souta was pondering, activity stirred in the group.
Kurumi Tokisaki: "I read the material on the new function. It seems like a feature to save time for group members. If you enter an 'enlightenment' state, you can finish any research quickly, right?"
Souta: "Kurumi, saving time is just the surface-level use. Think about it, some people are not smart. If you ask them to grasp a concept, they might not make any progress for years. In those cases, this feature becomes incredibly important."
Illya: "Big brother, who are you calling not smart?"
Souta: "…"
Souta: "I was just making a point to highlight how powerful the feature is. Don't overthink it, Illya—you're very smart."
Souta: "Really."
Shiroyasha: "Feels like this function doesn't do much for me. In Little Garden, Gifts are based on spiritual rank, which depends on achievements. This feature can't help me accumulate spiritual rank, and I'm not looking to develop new techniques either."
Rin Tohsaka: "This feature is probably meant for members like me who aren't that powerful. For example, I could use it to fully comprehend the Second Magic. With deeper understanding, I might even be able to use it myself."
Souta: "Huh? Doesn't your world require you to reach the Root before using Magic?"
Rin Tohsaka: "Nope. Magic is a means to reach the Root. The First Magic is the one you can only use after reaching the Root."
Souta: "Hold on, let me look it up."
Souta quickly pulled out his iPhone and searched for the definition of Magic in the Type-Moon universe. Soon, he understood.
Souta: "Alright, I was mistaken. Only the First and Fifth Magic are innate and originate from the Root. The Second, Third, and Fourth are methods researched to reach the Root."
Illya: "So that means I could achieve the Third Magic too?"
Souta: "With the auxiliary function, it should be possible. If you accomplish the Third Magic, Illya, you could summon a whole bunch of Servants as your bodyguards. No more fighting yourself—just send in the Servants to brawl with Noble Phantasms flying everywhere."
Rin Tohsaka: "In that case, maybe I should switch to the Third Magic. Seems more practical."
Souta: "Do you have points?"
Rin Tohsaka: "…"
Rin Tohsaka: "Souta, just you wait. Once I earn enough points, I won't even use the auxiliary function—I'll use them all to buy your divine power and waste it!"
Souta: "Ahem, don't be mad, no need to waste it like that."
Rin Tohsaka: "Not necessarily a waste. Your divine power can boost my strength. Remember Saber?"
Souta: "Artoria?"
Rin Tohsaka: "Exactly. Saber has the Dragon Factor—her heart is that of a red dragon. She doesn't need magical circuits; just circulating her blood and breathing generates mana. It's like a completely different level of magical core. I could use your divine power to create that kind of core for myself—no more worries about power growth."
Rin's message made Souta thoughtful.
Suddenly, an idea struck him—what if he used his divine power to strengthen the group members?
With enough imagination, everyone's power could level up dramatically.
As for the cost? Just give him points.
He needed those points to use the system's auxiliary function to comprehend the "Divine Office" rules and reduce the divine power needed to nurture it.
A virtuous cycle, essentially.
So, Souta shared his idea in the group.
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Souta, if you need points, you could've just asked. I've been hoarding mine with no use for them. This new function doesn't really help me anyway."
Souta: "That works. I'll trade divine power for your points. I just thought of a way to boost your strength. Didn't you want to teach Mio Takamiya a lesson personally? This might be your chance!"
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Boost my strength? How?"
Altair: "I'm curious too. From what I know, Kurumi's spirit power is fixed. How do you plan to enhance it?"
Souta: "Remember that 'Spirit Formula' Isaac and the others used to create Mio Takamiya? It gathers spirit energy from leylines to form ultra-powerful sephira crystal. Mio was born purely from such crystals."
Kurumi Tokisaki: "And?"
Souta: "I can use divine power to embed that formula into your Sephira crystal and modify it so it can evolve by absorbing spirit energy continuously. You could drain the leyline energy of ten Earths and easily defeat Mio."
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Wouldn't that require a ton of divine power?"
Souta: "Not necessarily, since we're just improving an existing formula."
Altair: "Wait, no one's gonna question 'drain ten Earths' worth of leyline energy'? How would that even work?"
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Altair, don't forget I'm the Time Emperor. Easy—I'll just keep going back to the past."
Kurumi Tokisaki: "And depleted leylines recover after a few hundred years. So I'll just go back to ancient times, absorb the leyline power, and it won't affect Mio's existence at all."
Souta: "Each time you drain the leyline, go back one day, then drain again. Repeat, and you'll grow endlessly stronger."
Shiroyasha: "Oh? Sounds like exploiting the timeline to power up."
Shiroyasha: "Kid, I have to say, when it comes to wild ideas, I, White Night, acknowledge you as the strongest!"
Souta: "White Night, do you know Madara Uchiha or something?"
White Yaksha: "What do you mean?"
Souta: "Nothing, just feels like you're stealing his lines."
Altair: "This plan seems viable. But if you're using divine power to tamper directly with a Sephira crystal, won't that endanger Kurumi?"
Souta: "Wishing with divine power will eliminate the risks. Even if something does go wrong and the crystal breaks, I can preserve Kurumi's body and soul. Worst case, she switches to another power system."
Souta: "Kurumi, are you willing to try?"
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Yes. I trust you."
Kurumi Tokisaki: "But I'll need some time to prepare. Loading enough time into the Twelfth Bullet to go back centuries won't be easy. Just crafting the bullets will take effort."
Souta: "No rush. I need to grab the Spirit Formula from the Date A Live world anyway."
Souta: "By the way, Kurumi, are you done on your end?"
Kurumi: "All wrapped up. I saved Akame, and the others."
Souta: "Planning to send them to the future?"
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Can't. I tested the Eleventh Bullet—it has a time limit in the future. When time's up, they get sent back."
Kurumi Tokisaki: "So I'll freeze their time. Once Chelsea and I return to the future, I'll bring them to a peaceful place. For them, it'll feel like just a blink."
Souta: "Alright then, I'll head to Date A Live for the Spirit Formula and meet up with you after."
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Okay."
Shiroyasha: "@Souta Hey kid, do you know who the new group member Athena is? Especially her identity?"