The World No One Knows: The God's Advent

by Riccky 06

Keima is released from his collar, by the God of Love, Cupid, who makes him his Host. A new threat is coming, and Keima must prepare to fight it, while fulfilling his duty as king of his harem. Attention: AU with Keima X Harem Final. Presence of OC. In collaboration with Kyoto Yasuri. Enjoy the reading!

2. FLAG 191 B Terms and Agreements

FLAG 191B! Terms and Agreements!

Still bewitched by the eyes of the God of Conquests, the girls kept quiet while he silently looked into the seven sets of eyes in front of him. This tense silence went on for mere seconds, but to the girls it felt like eternity. He unceremoniously broke the silence.

"Would you like something to drink?" He asked them. He received his reply in the form of three "Huh?" and four "Eh?"

If he wanted to throw them off, he most certainly achieved it. However, this was not Keima's intention. He merely knew that this could, and most probably would, take some time. He himself felt like getting something to drink. Anyways, he repeated himself. "Would any of you like something to drink? It's on the house."

Some of the girls felt wronged by this. After all that build up, this is the first thing he wanted to say? I mean, sure, I guess it's just normal courtesy to offer your guests something to drink, but the timing is all wrong!—thought Yui, who felt some of the tension leave her body.

What's his game? This has to be part of Katsuragi's mind games!—thought Ayumi—like, he's probably trying to set up for… for… well, something!

Man really just wanted something to drink though.

Kanon just thought he was cute. For Kanon, Keima is always in either Super Handsome-mode or Super Cute Chibi Keima-mode. Right now, in her eyes, he was just a really cute Chibi Keima.

"Darjeeling tea"—said Tsukiyo, knowing it'd be really difficult for a small, family-owned business like Café Grandpa to have such a product in stock. Truly, she just asked for it because she thought it sounded fancy.

"Done. Someone else?"

Tsukiyo's eyes bulged. "You have that?"

"Yes, mom loves to collect all kinds of tea"—those fancy-brand products were not on the menu, though. But surely his mother wouldn't mind it… he hoped.

One by one, they made their orders and, with Haqua's help, soon enough everyone had a drink—Elsie was not allowed in the kitchen by virtue of being Elsie, and anything Elsie made had a tendency to fight back. Keima was trying to save these girls, damn it! They were not going to leave this place with a severe case of food poisoning!

One crying Elsie later:

"Now I will explain everything to you. Trust me when I tell you that, in the end, everything will become clear." Haqua materialized a blackboard with her Hagoromo, while Keima took a piece of chalk and started writing on the blackboard at the speed of light; even if some characters were completely incomprehensible.

Once done, he turned around to see the girls and was surprised to see several of them with their mouths agape and eyes wide open.

"That was magic!"—Yui shouted, standing up from her seat.

She's right! But how? Mirrors?—Shiori tried to consult her mental library about the possible methods that could've been used to perform that trick, but the books she was searching for were out of reach. For whatever reason, she just couldn't remember them. Ugh, not again!

"What, it's your first time seeing it?" Chihiro grinned. This was one of those rare few occasions where she was the one with the most knowledge! Indeed, she had seen Haqua perform magic before, so she hadn't been too surprised.

"Well, no, not exactly…"—Yui had seen magic, although only briefly. She had been swiftly beaten up to a pixel of her health bar by it. "It's just… the first time I've seen, well, that, kind of magic."

Something in Yui's face told Chihiro that she probably shouldn't ask. Maybe Yui saw those hooded weirdos too?

"It's easy when you have actual magical powers…" Tenri murmured to herself, dejected. Diana was quick to offer some words of support for her host.

"Ahem!" Keima coughed, regaining the girls' attention.

"I am Keima Katsuragi. The God of Conquest, and, now, the Host of Cupid, the God of Love. Well, before it all started, I was always immersed in my own world. The world of galges, dating simulators. On the contrary, reality is a shitty game, a waking nightmare. And no, you don't have to correct me, I have my reasons for saying these things!"—Keima said, already seeing people wanting to argue.

"I lived in my ideal world for a long time. Until one day, I received a strange email daring me to get girls. I thought it was a simple mission of my games, so I foolishly agreed. I never should have done that. My life was turned upside down at that moment. At that moment I sealed a contract with a Devil from New Hell. I discovered that the mission I had been entrusted with was more complicated than expected. I had to save girls in the real world. These girls have gaps in their hearts, and have been infected by Runaway Spirits, otherwise known as the Weiss. To drive out these souls, I have to fill the gaps in the hearts of the girls in question. The method I use to drive these evil spirits out of the girls' bodies is to make these girls fall in love with me. I hated, and still hate to this day, this absolutely ludicrous mission! Haqua, show them the pictures!"—the images showing Elsie arriving for the first time began to scroll on the Hagoromo, though since Haqua hadn't been there when Elsie arrived, what they were seeing was merely a recreation of the scene they had prepared for this meeting.

This was a big shock for Elsie's classmates, especially for her fellow 2-B Pencils band members. "Eeeeeehhhh?!" was Chihiro's reaction, mirrored by Ayumi. Yui just stared wide-eyed, as if searching for horns or tails or something Devil-like to verify this shocking development.

Keima could see Shiori think over three thousand words in the blink of an eye.

"Yes, it's true. Elsie isn't my real sister, she is a Devil from New Hell, just like Haqua, and I'm her Buddy; a human partner meant to help her in her mission of capturing Runaway Spirits."

Then Ayumi's sudden reaction. "Making girls fall in love with you? Wait, but that means…"—that explained everything! Even so, Ayumi still felt bitter for how she had been treated.

"Yes"—Keima confirmed—"However, before I explain to all of you about that particular problem, I'd like to tell you what the Runaway Spirits, also known as the Weiss, actually are."

He honestly didn't wish to elaborate too much into this next subject, seeing how they were the direct victims of these fiends. To know the full truth would surely be horrifying for the girls; he could only hope they wouldn't freak out too much once his explanation was over.

"Runaway Spirits, also referred to as Weiss, are spectral beings that have broken free from the confines of hell, and most of them are Devils from Old Hell—which is to say, they were violent Devils who attempted to destroy the balance between Hell, The Human World and Heaven. In response to this offense, six Goddesses, the very same Goddesses six of you now host, sacrificed themselves in order to seal away the imminent threat these Devils posed."

G-Goddesses?! Minerva?!—Shiori stared wide-eyed at her small companion, disbelief written all over her face. I mean, I never really asked. S-She doesn't talk much either. Hold up, does this mean…?

Shiori shyly raised her hand like a student trying to get the teacher's attention.

"Yes, Shiori?" Keima spoke in a soft voice. His expression couldn't be considered gentle by any standards, but his voice was about as gentle as it could get—considering who we're talking about here, of course. Also—

First name basis?!

A number of the girls present felt a sharp pang of jealousy over this, even though Katsuragi called most of them by name too.

One would assume that the fact that honest to goodness Gods are actually a thing that exist would be the more shocking thing that was said there, but these girls had their priorities.

"S-so you c-can see Minerva too?"

This earned a raised eyebrow from Keima. "Of course I can".

"Everyone currently hosting a Goddess, as well as those related to Hell, can see your adorable little friend" answered Cupid, gently smiling at the librarian. "The only person here who isn't capable of seeing Minerva in her Ghost Form would be…" Cupid's sight, as well as all other pairs of eyes in the room, turned to the normal girl.

"G-Ghost?"

"Don't worry, little one"—The God of Love chuckled—"She's not scary at all".

"Since we have touched the subject…" Luna flew off from Tsukiyo's hold, quickly getting all over Chihiro's personal space. "Why are you here, little girl?"

Chihiro, quite logically, I might add, screamed her head off at the sudden approach of the Annabelle look-alike.

"Hey!"—Ayumi stood up, ready to (try to) deliver a full Chun-Li combo to the God of Fire—"Get that creepy doll away from Chihiro!"

"Excuse me?!"—An offended Tsukiyo stood up, ready to deliver a full Rachel Alucard combo on the host of the God of… well, lots of things, really.

Sensing the incoming catfight, Cupid magically produced a bowl full of popcorn, unsure of how this Street Fighter/Blazblue crossover would go, but amused enough to see it through. "The Wheel of Fate is Turning. Rebel!"

"You shut up!"—Keima pointed an angry index finger at Cupid, who quickly threw away his popcorn, hoping to hide the evidence; which hit Haqua square in the face.

"Ouch! You son of a—"

Soon, the room devolved into a shouting contest. Chihiro's screams, accompanied by Ayumi and Tsukiyo's shouting, Cupid's cries for help as Haqua literally attempted to shove his bowl of popcorn down his throat, Elsie's panicked shouting and Vulcanus' loud "WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING?!" shouts quickly turned Grandpa Café into a chaos of frantic voices—that is, of course, until God got pissed off.

"SHUT UP!" Keima's thundering voice was louder than anyone else's by far. It was as if thunder itself had fallen right in the middle of the room. All of the girls, Cupid, the neighbors and even Jupiter all the way up in Heaven winced at the decibels produced by the Otoshigami.

Cupid whistled. "You have a fine pair of lungs, Partner".

"Vulcanus, go to Tsukiyo now. Ayumi, Tsukiyo, sit down. Haqua"—Keima stared at the crimson irises of the slender Devil for a few more seconds before telling her to—"you can keep doing what you're doing".

"Wha?!" was the last thing Cupid managed to say before Haqua happily resumed the slaughter.

One God Of War QTE later…

Haqua sighed. "It's incredible how things went south so quickly…"

Undeterred, Keima pushed forward as if nothing had happened even though he could feel the mother of all headaches forming in his head.

"Yes. All of you, except for Tenri, had Runaway Spirits, Weiss, inside of you. Those Runaway Spirits, if not removed, would have fed on your negative emotions, and would take control of you and your body. Ultimately, those Weiss would be reincarnated as your baby once you become pregnant."

"That's right," Haqua said. "The Runaway Spirits feeds from your negative emotions, which are formed from the gaps of your heart. It feeds on the negative emotions of a girl, fans it and makes it worse. It creates a feedback loop, and it won't stop until it matures. Then it would be reincarnated as your child."

"Wait. What if the girl wasn't pregnant when the Runaway Spirit fully matures?" asked Tsukiyo.

"Either the Runaway Spirit manipulates the girl so she would seek to become pregnant whatever the consequence is, or if it fails and she does nothing, then the loose soul will directly cause the conception. Thus, the girl will become pregnant. Yes, it'd be a virgin conception."—Except it wouldn't. The process was actually very graphic, not to mention grotesque. Haqua had seen the footage, and she had immediately asked to have the memory of that cursed video removed from her head. The girls didn't need to know the details, though, just like Haqua herself didn't—"And no, abortion will not work. To add to all that, when the baby is born, the mother always dies. Of all the records from our operations, not a single mother survived the childbirth. The Weiss drains its mother of all her energy. Once born, the baby becomes a monster that has to be killed in order to stop it from becoming an even greater monster," the section chief answered.

Everyone, except for the two devils, were shocked. It was just too horrible.

"So once a Weiss resided inside of you, I had no choice but to make you fall in love with me. And to prevent complications, your memories of me were wiped out afterward. Right, Elsie?"

"Yes. If you retained your memories, then Divine Brother would not be able to capture more Runaway Spirits without complications," said Elsie. "He needed to be free to continue with his mission."

"Does that mean that you don't love us at all? That you weren't with me because you loved me?" asked Kanon, her voice shaking.

"I'll be honest with you. No, I didn't love you, nor did I even like you when I was conquering you the first time, or even now," he stated with a calm coldness that made all the girls shiver. "I didn't even care about you before. That's because I don't care for girls in the real world. All I cared about was 2D girls. I wouldn't have tried to save you, even if I knew then what I know now, if it wasn't for this damned collar. Could you see this purple collar round my neck? You see this? Can you see it? Haqua, Elsie, are you sure they can see it?" He turned to the two devils, who only nodded in confirmation. "If I didn't save you, my head and Elsie's would literally be cut off! I literally had no choice! I did this because I wanted to save my own skin, not because I cared for any of you!"

That hit the girls like cold water. They somehow knew that he didn't have the same feelings for them as they did for him. But to hear it from his own voice in such a manner was still just painful on an entirely new level.

It made Chihiro and Ayumi angrier at the boy who toyed with their hearts. They were all but ready to go and beat him up, but Haqua was there, positioning her scythe menacingly and glaring at them to say nothing and do nothing.

Kanon stood up, hurt by his words. "That's a lie!" she said, her voice was shaking, but her determination was nonetheless etched in her features. "I know you don't love me. Or like me in the way I like you. But don't tell me that you don't care. You care for us! Otherwise, you would have let me die when I was stabbed. I know you care for me. You saved my life! So please, don't say things that aren't true! And even if you insist, no matter what, I won't believe it!"

For Kanon, Keima's words were impossible to accept. Their original meeting aside, when she was attacked by Vintage, Keima did everything in his power to help save her—even risking his life indirectly fighting Devils. You don't do that for someone you don't care about.

He looked at the rest of the girls. Their eyes were nearly in tears. Scratch that. Shiori was already crying. Tsukiyo was struggling to maintain her composure, but her body was visibly shaking and he could hear her soft sobbing.

Tsukiyo couldn't help but wonder if his words were true. But somewhere deep inside her heart refused to believe this. It could've been the foolish part of her that wanted to believe that the boy she loves returns her feelings, but that wasn't the case. It couldn't be. No half-hearted feelings could have resisted the full brunt of Vulcanus assaults.

He had been beaten, threatened with death while being constantly rejected by her. All while facing the wrath of an actual Goddess, disregarding his own well-being time and time again.

And he did it for her. Just to ask her to love him, even if only for a little longer. That's how much he cared. But now he's here, telling her he never loved her, never liked her and never even cared for her…

Were these his true feelings? Or maybe this is something the Devils forced him to say? Now that she thinks about it, they could be an issue for his job, so the higher-ups of Hell could've decided it'd be best if he broke all of their hearts for good…

In the end, she was beyond uncertainty and anger. Only sadness seemed to remain.

Yui was close to bursting. "Don't say that, Darling. That's not true!"

Only Tenri was not negatively affected. She had the same calm look, as she wasn't fooled by his words and her faith never wavered. She knew him so well that she knew that Keima was just acting.

Everything happens for a reason, the childhood friend thought.

"You fiend! I'm gonna kill you for hurting Tsukiyo!" Vulcan yelled as Luna started floating, as did every single sharp and/or pointy object in the café.

"Don't you dare," threatened Haqua, pointing her scythe at the floating doll.

"Let me finish!" he said, his voice booming, albeit still cold. He looked each and every girl in the eye. "I didn't care for you—at first. Clearly, by the time of the Goddesses, I already cared for you. From the moment the Weiss dared try to use you, you all became my heroines. As my heroines, I care for each and every one of you. I don't want you to be hurt, I don't want you to die, I don't want bad things to happen to you. And I promised that I would help you whenever you needed me. And I did fulfill that promise. And let me tell you this just so we'll be clear. I will save each and every one of you, as I did in the past. I would do everything to do so. Even at the cost of my life and happiness. Even if I have to break your hearts to do so. I'm just sorry if you get hurt by my actions."

He looked squarely at their eyes as he said those words. His voice gradually became softer and warmer as he continued. Those words were so full of sincerity that it almost made everything else he ever told them feel like a lie.

There was silence as somehow, all the anger and all the sadness in their eyes disappeared. Keima knew that negative emotions could be turned into positive ones and hatred into love—and he knew how to abuse the hell out of that. Did that make him scum? Well, if it was to save them, then he was fine with being scum.

Then there was more sobbing. But unlike before, the tears were not tears of sadness, but relief, even happiness for some of them. It was Kanon, and she was now crying. Then she jumped out of her seat and all but flew to hug Keima, burying her face on his chest as tears gently flowed.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you…" the yandere idol said. "I knew it. You aren't that bad. Don't you ever say you don't care! You hear me, idiot!"

Keima blushed as he stroked Kanon's hair. Shiori cried even harder and, against every fiber of her shy being, she went and hugged him from the side, then—much to both Keima and Vulcanus' surprise—Tsukiyo did too, leaving Luna behind on the table.

Tsukiyo had her answer.

Tenri was on her chair, silent, tears freely flowing. Her faith in her childhood friend was vindicated. Do you really have to make us cry to make your point, Keima?

Yui was the same, silent but teary.

Chihiro and Ayumi were an entirely different case. Their anger all but disappeared, but the hurt and bitterness remained. Tears dropped from their eyes, happy that the boy they liked at least cared for them.

Keima cared for all of them! He cared for them! And in their minds, that care, may someday become like, or even love. Each of the seven girls hoped that she would be the object of that love when it happens.

Keima glared at Haqua for failing to control Kanon, Tsukiyo, and Shiori. Haqua just remained calm. She glared back at Keima. You disgusting man! Take some responsibility for what you've done! Really!—is what her eyes seemed to tell him.

A tsundere's trademarked "Hmph!" echoed in the room.

Elsie just smiled at the scene. I'm glad all of them understood Divine Brother. They'll realize that everything you do is for a reason, Kami-Nii-sama.

It took about fifteen minutes for things to settle down. The three girls around him were persuaded to return to their seats, though it took no small amount of persuasion.

Keima continued, looking at the seven of them again. "And so I spent my days conquering and saving girls, all of you included. You all forgot, and I moved to my next target. It seemed as if it would stay that way forever, until you confessed, Kanon. You remembered, right? After forgetting for so long?"

Kanon remembered that very public confession and blushed as she looked around, the girls looking at her.

"When the Goddess awakened, you remembered what happened," said Keima. "You have Apollo within you. Diana told me to search for the other Goddesses, but…" He stopped. He seemed like he didn't want to say the next words as his voice suddenly cracked, and he turned away. "I'm sorry, but…"

Someone stood up. "That's okay. Let me tell everyone the rest of the story." It was Diana to the rescue. Who would've thought.

She stepped forward. He remembered what he should do. He removed his glasses, and clasped both of her hands in his, then gave her an intense stare and flashed her a small smile while keeping a sad look on his face. "Thank you, Diana. I owe you one."

That led the Goddess to blush as well as to back away a bit in shock. It was deliberate and planned since he knew that she had fallen in love with him. He had earlier talked to the Goddess, and she agreed to tell the story, as parts of it were still too painful for Keima to tell himself.

"Well, you are Tenri's fiancée after all," she said while looking away as she withdrew her hand from his. He went and stood beside his sister and Haqua.

"You really are the worst!" Haqua whispered, "Playing with a Goddess like that."

"You really do look very handsome without your glasses on, Divine One," said Elsie in a hushed and admiring tone, "especially when you smile too."

Obviously, the reason he did what he did right before she talked was to make sure that she only said the best opinions about him without needing to coach her on what to say. That would help sway the girls towards his cause.

While all of this was happening, Cupid smiled even though his HP was in the red. "Partner… you're truly one of the smoothest mother-truckers I've ever seen." A small tear went down his cheek, as he thought "I'm in so much pain though. Help pls."

We're ignoring him though.

"Thank you, Tenri's fiancée," she began. "I am Diana, a Jupiter Sister who resides in Tenri."

And she started talking, telling the entire story from the moment she asked him to look for her sisters, up until the final battle. And true to his expectations, that gesture made the difference. She did not say any negative things about him, kept praising him about his initiative, his resourcefulness, his intelligence, on how he was instrumental in achieving victory, on his sacrifices, his dependability. It was all true, but hearing it from the Goddess would give it more credibility rather than him tooting his own horn. She also added the fact that he will inevitably choose Tenri, which was up in the air as far as he was concerned, and that he was Tenri's fiancée, which was downright false, but he let it slide. No need to shoot yourself in the foot when you're winning.

Haqua also contributed, telling them things that Diana did not know about. And to his relief, she followed the plan to a T. She never said anything bad about him, and generally praised him to the skies. She was professional when she needed to be, and she understood that this was her duty—he never noticed the violent blush on her face.

Diana finished the tale, even as her face became as pink as her eyes. "Nothing I can say or do will be enough to repay Tenri's fiancée for all that he did for me and my sisters. Without him, we would never have been reunited, and Vintage's plans would have succeeded. Maybe I would be dead, along with all of my sisters. And all of you, as Goddess hosts, would be dead, too. This world would have then been ruled by demons from Old Hell. Yes, he wooed each of you, made you fall in love with him again without loving or even liking you one bit, he even hurt some of you, but think of the consequences if he didn't! He saved the world! He saved us! He saved each and every one of you! That is worth each one of your heartbreaks! What good are your precious feelings if the world is destroyed? If you are dead? And yes, if you didn't believe him when he told you that he cared for each one of you, let me bear witness to all his efforts. I can see it in his eyes, in his actions, he really did care for all of you. He is a magnificent man, wholly worthy of mine and Tenri's—n-no, eh, I mean Tenri's love! If you want to blame someone, blame me instead for I was the one who asked him to undertake that tremendous burden! I told him to become closer to you without actually falling in love with you since I knew from the beginning that he belongs to Tenri and Tenri alone."

Her voice was passionate, her pink eyes blazing. She commanded the undivided attention of the room. She indeed was the Tactician Goddess at that moment. And Keima could observe the guilty feelings on the faces of the girls. Except for Tenri, all of them, not only Ayumi and Chihiro, clearly held grudges against him for his actions during the search for the Goddesses.

"I don't know about the others, but as far as I am concerned, Keima did nothing wrong during the search," said Kanon, ignoring the part where Diana claimed Keima for Tenri—Well see about that—, and stopping the others from making comments. "Thank you for saving my life."

The bespectacled pink-haired girl looked at the boy. Her eyes were full of heartfelt gratitude, love and beautiful feelings for which there are no words.

Any normal boy would be blushing or embarrassed by the praise tossed his way by the Goddess. But he was not a normal boy. He was the God of Conquests, and the God of Poker! He kept a poker face throughout the whole ordeal, and just nodded when the speaker glanced at him. Diana, of course, did not know what would happen if Tenri's love died. She did it as a personal favor to him.

"That's enough," said Keima. "I don't deserve those words. It was merely my job. And I'm sorry for all the pain that you've suffered. And I'm sorry for all the mistakes that I made."

"That brings me to the meat of the matter. The reason I called you here," he said. "I am still under contract with New Hell. My life is still in danger. I must make girls fall in love with me to save them from the Weiss. Even if I were to fall in love with one of you, I cannot be together with anyone until this is over."

"But why?" asked Kanon.

"Because I'll say to other girls I save that I love them and I like them, and I'll kiss them too," said Keima. "I'll be cheating on whoever I choose. I cannot do that. I don't want to hurt any of you like that. I'm sorry, but you cannot change my mind on that."

"How long?" asked Tsukiyo. "How long before this contract of yours is over?"

He went back to lecture mode. "Due to recent events, the number of Weiss in this place was reduced. Thus, I only have to capture 500 to 600 more Weiss, and I will be done with my contract. With Cupid's help, quite literally the God of Love itself, I'm hoping to complete this event much sooner than originally expected. If all goes well, this will all be over in about two to three years. Hopefully." And that, my friends, was the most stressed "hopefully" in the history of the world. "Let's just say three years, to be safe."

"Three years? So you can choose one of us after three years?" the blonde moon lover pressed.

"After three years, I may be able to choose someone. But it would be unfair to ask you to wait for me for that long. Who knows? It might take longer even if we try our hardest. Please give up on me. I am not worth it. You might find someone else that's much better for you than me."

"I'll wait!" Kanon promptly answered. "Even if it takes one hundred years, I will wait."

"I'll wait too. I already waited for ten years. What are three more years?" replied Tenri, in a soft, shy, but resolute voice.

"Yes, darling! Three years is nothing!" Yui added. "I'll make you my wife! We'll be only 20 when that happens!"

Shiori nodded before she hid her red face behind the menu. Tsukiyo looked Keima in the eyes. In her mind, now that there were no more secrets between them—as far as she knew—that was all it took for him to know her answer. Yes.

"Tell me, Katsuragi. Be honest with all of us. Do all of us have a chance after the three years are over? They all say they will wait for you, but if you have no intention of picking any of us, wouldn't that be a vain hope? Tell us right now who you'll pick so those of us who have no chance can move on," Chihiro demanded. She knew that she had no chance. She was coldly rejected in favor of Ayumi. And she was planning to take herself out of the competition to support her best friend.

Keima was expecting the question. To be honest, if he had to choose right now, he would have picked Chihiro. And he would tell her that he loved her. But with the knowledge that he couldn't choose any one of them even after the three years passed, he suppressed that emotion.

"All of you have a chance to be chosen by me at the end of the three years," he said, looking at the seven girls in front of him. And he was not lying. He would choose Chihiro now, but after three years? Who knows what could happen? He might outgrow his love for her, or even develop feelings for another of his heroines that would be greater than his affection for Chihiro. He played enough games to know that sometimes, love was not constant, especially if there was no firm commitment. Maybe he could fall in love with Ayumi or even Yui in the next five years. Perhaps any of the other six girls could displace Chihiro. Maybe his love for her could fade away and make the competition even more equal? That's not impossible. Until he makes a definite choice, all of them have a chance.

He looked at them when he said those words, and their eyes lit brightly. Especially Shiori's. She never thought she had much of a chance to begin with, and to be told that she still was in the game was heartening to say the least. It gave her hope.

"In the meantime, it's best if we avoid each other," he continued. "It'll only hurt you to see me conquer other girls."

"Wait! Hold on! I can't accept that! I won't!" Kanon shouted.

Everyone looked at her, admiring her determination and openness. As expected, Kanon was the most expressive of her feelings towards the bespectacled boy. She became the de facto spokesgirl for the others.

"So what do you want?" asked the gamer.

"Even if we can't be together, can we, at least, spend time with you, Keima?" asked Kanon. "Please! To wait for you for three years—I can bear that, but don't shut yourself up from us. I want to spend time with you during the wait!"

He looked at Kanon and the others. "Knowing all that you know now, how I played with you all, lied to you, and stomped on your hearts, do you still want to spend time with me? Are you still willing to wait three years—possibly more—for me to finish my mission? Can you bear to see me conquer other girls?"

"I do," Kanon said. "I understand. You have no choice. You have to save them all."

Keima looked at the rest of the girls. Tsukiyo was blushing hard, and some hesitation could be seen in her delicate features, but she nodded nonetheless. Shiori looked at him, her face covered by the menu. She peeked out, her face fully blushing, and nodded before hiding her face again.

"Yes, I would," said Yui without hesitation. "You don't love any of those other girls, right?"

"Me too," said Tenri. "You're doing it for the right reasons. I trust you, Keima."

He looked at Ayumi and Chihiro. Both were looking at the side, their eyes unable to meet his own.

Chihiro kept all her thoughts to herself as she fidgeted in place.

"I can't decide on it yet. I'll let you know," Ayumi equivocated.

"Fine. If you want, I'll let each of you spend time with me until my work is over," said Keima, relenting, giving a sigh of defeat and looking at the floor. "I guess we better think of how we're gonna divide my time, make rules and such."

"Then, I'll make you fall in love with me!" said Kanon. "And you'll choose me!"

"No, Tenri is gonna make you fall in love with her," Diana declared, challenging Kanon.

"That boy is Tsukiyo's!" Vulcan shouted. "She'll make him hers!"

And in a rare moment of bravery, or maybe because her pride wouldn't allow her to be the only one keeping quiet while all the others made their feelings known, Tsukiyo, very softly, said, "Of course. I have no intention of losing to anyone."

Mars heard that, and took it as a challenge.

"He's Yui's! Yui's gonna capture Keima's heart!" Mars asserted.

"He's gonna choose Ayumi!" Mercury added.

As this was going on, Keima erased the blackboard and began writing something else. When it was over, he slammed his fist against the board, getting the attention of all the girls.

"Thank you. Okay. I'll give you my time," he said. "Now, I wrote the schedule for each girl. I made it so that each of you would spend equal time with me for the next week. I wrote it with consideration of your free time. Read it, and read the rules I wrote below the schedule. Other than that, I would be busy, and I cannot give you my attention."

Rule One

This schedule is the tentative program by which Keima Katsuragi will spend his time with Tenri Ayukawa, Chihiro Kosaka, Ayumi Takahara, Shiori Shiomiya, Tsukiyo Kujo, Yui Goido, and Kanon Nakagawa.

Rule Two

Any girl mentioned above can only approach Keima Katsuragi during her scheduled time listed above if her sole purpose is to spend time with Katsuragi Keima.

Rule Three

However, outside the schedule, the girls can approach Keima Katsuragi for any purpose other than to spend time with Katsuragi Keima.

Rule Four

Keima Katsuragi cannot refuse to spend time with a girl during her scheduled time, except for emergencies, or when he is doing another conquest. In that case, he is required to make it up to her another time. If the reason is not valid, he will make it up to the girl in double the amount of time.

Rule Five

Keima Katsuragi can refuse any girls' approach outside their scheduled times for any reason at his discretion.

Rule Six

The scheduled time with Keima Katsuragi is a right given to each of the girls in the schedule. However, she may choose not to exercise her right for any reason, and if she did so, she may not demand that he make it up to her if her reason is not an excusable and valid reason.

Rule Seven

It is preferable for the girl who cannot make it to inform Keima Katsuragi in advance. She can trade her time to any other girl if that happens. The trading of time is not obligatory.

Rule Eight

Trading of time and schedules is allowed, provided both girls agree. Keima Katsuragi's approval for such is not needed.

Rule Nine

How the scheduled time will be spent will be the girls' decision. If she cannot make a decision, Keima Katsuragi will decide.

Rule Ten

Each girl cannot deliberately interfere with the scheduled time of another girl with Keima Katsuragi. Any malicious interference will result in the halving or forfeiture of the time of the girl for that week.

Rule Eleven

How each girl follows this rule will be a consideration on who Keima Katsuragi will choose after the tentative three years are over.

Rule Twelve

A new schedule every week will be drawn up based on changes in the free time of Keima Katsuragi and the seven girls. The girls themselves can make suggestions on the schedule for the next week.

Rule Thirteen

New rules or amendments of existing rules could be made with the unanimous consent of all parties, which consist of the seven girls named above, Keima Katsuragi, Elsie Katsuragi, and Haqua du Lot Herminium.

The girls were astonished at the detailed schedule and rules he drew up. It covered everything, from walking to school in the morning, walking to the gate, and to the classroom, lunchtime, after school events, etc. And when the girls remembered their own schedules, they were astonished that it only happened during their free time.

"When and how did you—did you know this would happen?" Chihiro accused.

"Of course not," he lied. "I thought this up in just a few seconds after I agreed to share my time with you. It wasn't such a big deal. There are lots of games where there are similar schedules or rules. I'm the God of Conquests. This is nothing to me." In fact, he spent the hours since Cupid's warning to the minutes prior to sending Haqua and Elsie to fetch the girls coming up with the plan, as well as the making of the schedule and its rules. It took the combined brain power of all four of them, plus some magic, to piece this massively enormous bullshit together. Also, there were no games where there was an explicit schedule or legalese rules. He would personally burn the game company that would dare insert such restrictive mechanics onto its product. The "Debt" system in "Tales of Trillia II" had made it clear that such overly realistic mechanics were not fun.

"Hey, how did you know my free time?" asked Ayumi, staring at the blackboard.

"I memorized your class schedules and free time during the Hunt for the Goddesses," Keima masterfully lied through his teeth. "Of course, it's not perfect, so feel free to correct it if needed"—this man lied as easily as he breathed. He knew the schedule was perfect. After all, it was the combined effort of an actual God, one of the most intelligent Devils out there and the Otoshigami himself.

"You mean to tell us that you will definitely spend that time with us, alone, together?" asked Tsukiyo, staring at the schedule.

"Yes," he replied. "I promise."

Kanon quickly took a picture of the schedule, followed by several other girls.

"Don't bother," said Keima. "Elsie?"

"Oh yes, Divine Brother," she said before she used her raiment to make copies of the schedule and rules and gave each girl a copy.

"Those copies can only be read by the people currently present in this room. Thanks to Cupid's help, not even Devils will be able to read its contents. To others, they'll see it as just your class schedule and the rules of Maijima High School," Haqua said.

"Well, that's it. Any questions?" asked Keima.

Here, Ayumi quickly raised her hand. "How is Cupid going to help you?"

Finally! Some spotlight!

Cupid quickly got up from the floor as if he hadn't been beaten up black and blue mere minutes ago, and replied with the biggest smile he could muster—which wasn't much, all things considered. His lip was starting to swell up. "I am Cupid, the God of Love! This, of course, means I have authority over love—or in other words, I possess magic that directly affects love. With the help of these abilities, it's perfectly possible to have any number of girls fall head over heels with my Partner, though the effect is not immediate, mind you. But this will still speed things up quite a bit!"

Cupid then turned to Keima. "I believe that, in gaming lingo, this is what you'd call speedrunning, yes?"

"No, it's not," the God of Conquest replied in the most frozen voice one could imagine. "This is just cheating. It's the closest I've ever gotten to using GameSharks or mods. I feel filthy".

Once everything is said and done, Keima is a true gamer. The only mods he'd ever use are the ones that make the game harder, not easier. Keima somewhat felt as if his pride as the Otoshigami was in jeopardy. However, not everyone has his integrity.

"Cupid, I have a request. Make Keima fall in love with me!" Yui, in true Yui fashion, shamelessly prayed to the God of Love.

"Don't you dare!" Several girls, plus their accompanying Goddesses, vehemently refused. The sheer animosity in the air would've made the casual onlooker shit their pants three different times before their sphincter even knew what was happening.

"It wouldn't work," the God of Conquests told them. Cupid then elaborated on this.

"My partner is right. If the intended target of the spell is aware that he or she is under the effects of the Authority of Love, they won't be affected by it. And if they WERE under its effects when they finally unveiled the truth, well…" Cupid winced. Aeëtes' daughter became the prime example of why you don't toy with people's hearts. "Things don't go well when they discover the truth. Things should turn out well now, though! Unless, of course, Circe took other disciples…"

Never use the Authority of Love in Greece, just to be sure nothing else goes south in such a spectacular fashion ever again.

"To further explain, the Authority of Love, the spell known as Cupid's Arrow, works… Well, it's tough to explain. But, basically, you need two arrows, then you pick your 'ship' and you shoot them at your intended targets. Of course, it's neither painful nor lethal. Once the spell is activated, the two affected individuals will conveniently run into each other quite frequently. They will develop an attraction to one another, which will build up over time until they're so lovey-dovey they'll be sending each other texts messages late into the night. However, since my Partner is aware of the spell, he won't be affected. Only the girl will be."

"Katsuragi…"

"Yes, Ayumi?"

"I don't think this is right. You're forcing them to love you. You're just toying with their feelings like they're just…"

"Enough!"—Cupid intervened—"It's not like it happened to you! You fell in love with my Partner, without being forced to by anyone. You chose by yourself to fall in love with him."

"Hey! Stop that!"—snapped the runner—"Who says I'm in love with him?!"

"Exactly! Who'd be in love with someone like him?!"—Chihiro also intervened.

"Uh? How strange. I said you were in love. I never said you were still in love with him. So why are you bringing this up?"—Cupid chuckled, looking at the faces of Chihiro and Ayumi, now aware that they had just dug their own graves. Wisely, they both noted that anything they said now could be used against them, so they exercised their right to remain silent.

"I know," Keima told them, to answer Ayumi's question. "To be honest, the moral issues with this plan had been causing me trouble since Cupid mentioned his unique skill to me. I know you're right, Ayumi. But this is the best option for us right now. We know there are Vintage operatives lurking in the dark, waiting for the right time to strike. Reducing their resources as quickly as possible is the best thing we can do, both for the sake of girls possessed by the Weiss as well as your own"—maybe even for the entire world, according to Cupid, though I sincerely hope that's an exaggeration.

Kanon's eyes went wide with shock. "They're still out there?!"

The valedictorian spoke up, her tone somber. "Though plenty of them were captured, we couldn't detain all of them, even with the help of some of our strongest fighters." She still couldn't believe there were people out there capable enough to outmaneuver the Rimyuel. Lune, the Devil Haqua had fought, was still currently on the loose, and while not even close to Rimyuel's level, she was still a powerhouse in her own right.

"So those hooded freaks…" Chihiro's voice shivered. She had never been so scared as when she saw those people back then. The other girls had it even worse, as they had been captured by them even though their Goddesses did their best to fight them off.

None of them, however, was as frightened as Kanon. Chihiro had been uncomfortably close to these vicious Devils, close enough to hear them, but Keima had been right there with her and Haqua had kept them both safe with her magic. Shiori, Tsukiyo and Yui had been captured, they knew as much, but the memories were foggy at best.

Kanon got stabbed.

She remembered with painful clarity how it felt, how scared she had been. She thought she was going to die, she was sure of it. If not for Apollo's magic, Keima's efforts and all of the other Goddesses, she would be dead.

Her mind couldn't help but to go back to that fateful day. She replayed it over and over. She had nightmares about it every single day, and the only thing that had kept her strong was the thought that it was over. They were caught. Destroyed. "We took care of all of them!" Apollo had told her, but she had lied. She only told her that to help her move on, to reassure her, but now she knew the truth. She wasn't safe. Things were far from over.

Her vision was becoming blurry.

She could feel her own heartbeats on her chest. She could hear them in her ears.

She was hyperventilating.

It took all of her mental power not to look down. Somehow, she knew that if she did, she'd see that knife, dark and enchanted with old magic, protruding from her abdomen.

Apollo was trying to tell her something, but she couldn't hear it. She couldn't because she was dying again. The phantasmal pain was there and she was dying and alone and—

"Kanon," he called her name. She struggled to do it, but she focused her eyes on the boy in front of her. Familiar brown. She had seen those eyes of his in her dreams countless times, far more times than she had seen them in real life. His voice was the usual strong, nonchalant voice she was used to hearing, but there was an underlying softness to it; a hint of kindness, of care, and a promise.

He walked closer to her. He walked until he was right in front of her table. He looked straight into her fearful, teary eyes with his own strong, larger-than-life gaze, and in a voice full of so many different things that didn't match his usual self, he told her that "No matter what, I will keep you safe. No matter what, even if I have to fight Lucifer himself, I'll chase you to the end of the world, I will save you, and I will bring you back."

"I will save you, just like I will save each and every single one of you if you need me."

It was an awfully cheesy line. Had it been anyone else, it would have been laughable. Had it been anyone else, those words would've been nothing more than a fool's attempt at sounding cool in front of the girl he loves. But when spoken by Katsuragi Keima, they transformed into something else entirely.

He wasn't trying to sound cool. This was no delusion of grandeur, nor were they the empty words of someone trying to get on their good side. Each and every word had been a promise between him and them. Each and every one of his words had been nothing but facts, as real as the sun.

And all fear banished like so much smoke in the face of the man she loves. He had saved her before, and if he had to, he'd save her time and time again. She could see that silent promise in his eyes, and everything else in the world seemed so trivial compared to that.

Vintage?

Pfft.

What was Vintage going to do against the man who had saved the world before he was chosen as the vessel of a God? The smart ones would run. The dumb ones would try to jump him, only to then be put on life support.

"Are you okay now?" Smiling the most beautiful smile in the last century, Kanon nodded while slowly closing the distance between his lips and hers…

"Hey! None of that!" Ten voices yelled in absolute outrage. All of the other hosts, plus their Goddesses, even Shiori and Minerva, were not about to see that crime scene happen right in front of their poor eyes.

"YOU FOOLS!" Shouted Apollo. "That would have been the world's greatest kiss since Westley and Buttercup's kiss!"

"Screw you!" Keima shouted, pointing his index finger at Kanon's (Apollo) face. "The world's greatest kiss is Otabe and Kurasu's kiss scene in the original Stein;Door!"

"YOU DARE?!"

And just like that, the moment was gone. Kanon sighed, but she felt much better.

"I still have questions," Yui raised her hand.

Cupid answered. "About Vintage?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry about it," the God replied nonchalantly.

"Huh?! But they—"

"They failed," Cupid told her. "Now, it's not only New Hell that's onto them. Heaven is also keeping an eye out for them. They're imbeciles, but even imbeciles value their lives. Acting up now, when everyone is on high alert, is tantamount to begging to be killed".

Sounds like famous last words, thought Keima. If something can go wrong, they have a tendency to go wrong. Murphy's Law is not to be trifled with, but now was not the time to bring that up, especially now that the girls seemed to have relaxed.

Chihiro was the next one to speak up. "If the girl keeps her feelings for you in spite of Hell's interference… how would you handle it?"

RED FLAG.

This could be bad. The God of Conquest knew his reply would determine whether or not Chihiro decided to join the schedule, considering her question reflected their story together; how he coldly rejected her.

If possible, he wished for her to join, but he couldn't risk showing preference in front of the others. So he did the only thing he could do in this precarious, do or die extreme moment; he browsed through millions of lines of text, countless choices, he choose to rely on everything he had learnt in his career as the God of Conquest—

But none of it would work.

Not on her.

So he told her the truth. "New Hell's memory tampering system has never failed. So, there's no reason to worry on that front. However, if the girl were to find out the truth, then…" he didn't know how to end his sentence. Did he offer her to join the schedule? Impossible. Seven girls were already too much. Did he use Cupid's skill to mess with her memories? It'd be the best choice.

"I don't know," he told them.

"Huh?!"

When in doubt, play dumb.

"As of right now, seven girls is already too much. If someone else became interested in me, I'd reject her."

Like, for real, he had to keep the affections of seven girls while conquering six hundred others, not to mention the thousands of heroines coming up every month. His schedule was BUSY. All caps, in bold and italics. He'd need two more Gods of Love, Buddha AND Jesus to handle that mess, and that's exactly what he'd tell them. "With this arrangement, I really don't have the time for other girls. Between the seven of you, girls possessed by Weiss, school, study… it'd be impossible for me to include more girls in the schedule."

This seemed to pacify everyone. Still, he let it sink in for some seconds, just to see everyone's reactions.

"Any other inquiries?"

There were none. In truth, all of the most important questions had been answered, so no one had anything else to say.

"Any objections?"

There was none.

"Do you accept it?"

"Yes," Kanon said. She was simply glad that she would get to spend even a little time with Keima each week. It was way better than just waiting for him for three years.

Tsukiyo nodded. Like Kanon, she was glad for guaranteed time with Katsuragi. She was not the type of girl to go and demand from him that he spend time with her, but… Maybe I should. The competition is strong. All rules have legal holes somewhere, so I just need to find them. Thus, she proceeded to examine the rules as carefully as she could.

Shiori also nodded. She was so shy that she didn't have the courage to actually ask Keima out. This was a big step forward for her.

"Darling, I accept it and I accept you!" Yui shouted with joy. Already, she was looking at the rules, and her mind was already formulating ways to exploit them for her own benefit. "I'll consider this the rules of engagement of our competition for Keima's love. No hard feelings as long as we follow the rules, right girls?"

"Yes, Keima. Thank you," Tenri said. To her, giving her that time was more than she felt entitled to. A real chance was finally given to her, so she felt like her ten years of faithful love for him were at long last rewarded.

"We'll see," said Ayumi. She was still upset, and she would demand answers from Katsuragi, even if she softened considerably because of what she learned.

"So you forfeit your time? Could you give it to me?" asked Yui.

"No! I'm taking my time for the first week. Then we'll see," said Ayumi, her voice even, her eyes uncertain. She will give all her time to Chihiro if Chihiro decides to pursue Katsuragi again. But she could not deny that she was very tempted to accept it. She just needed time to think about it.

"As for me, I think I'll pass," said Chihiro, leaving her copy of the schedule on the table. "Ayumi can have my hours".

Huh?

"Chihiro, are you sure?" The Human Missile looked at her friend, surprised.

"I only came here for answers. I have them now," she said nonchalantly. "Moreover, all this talk about Devils and Goddesses and Evil Spirits is just too much for me. Plus, I don't have a Goddess, so there's really no reason to get myself involved in all of this, right?"

Then, smiling the very same smile she gifted him on the last day of the Mai-High Festival, she said "We already said our goodbyes, didn't we, Katsuragi?"

Chihiro, why do you always have to do these things! You never act like I think you will! This is why I… I…

He couldn't say anything else. To try to convince Chihiro now would only jeopardize his relationship with the other girls, as it would show his true feelings. The other girls would then feel discouraged and whatever little progress he had managed to make would be lost…

No matter how much he liked Chihiro, she wasn't in any danger. The others' safety depended on his actions, so here, the only choice is…

He did what he did best, and with herculean effort he kept his perfect poker face—no, that wasn't enough. Not for Chihiro, so with all his might, he mirrored her smile as best as he could. If nothing else, maybe I can still convince her later. This isn't the end. This is just a setback.

Or maybe, this truly is the end.

He remembered the words she used back then.

Bye-bye.

They locked eyes for one fleeting moment, leaving thousands of words to go unspoken.

Umm… bye-bye, Chihiro. You were my…

Unable to finish that thought, Keima nodded at Chihiro. "If you're not on the schedule, you don't have any hours. Therefore you can't donate them to someone else," he ended up saying, before returning to his poker face.

"Oh. Too bad. Sorry, Ayumi."

The other girls cheered inside their minds. That's one less rival to worry about. Even Tenri felt immensely relieved when Chihiro, the strongest rival, threw the towel before the fight even began. Of course, she felt guilty for thinking like that. After all, Keima was probably suffering right now, but—maybe, just maybe, I have a chance now. Maybe there's still an ending for you and I, Keima-kun…

"If that's all, then this meeting is adjourned. I will see you all later."

"W-Wait…" Shiori's voice was barely audible.

"Um, this is prying, but could you tell us if we're your only conquest?" asked Shiori.

"That's not a beautiful question!" Tsukiyo scolded. If she was honest, she didn't want to know. Six other girls were already bad enough. She could live without knowing his… "numbers."

Shiori yelped, then she tried to make herself as small as possible.

Oh no! I made her mad! But I'm really curious. Hold on, do I even want to know? What if I don't like the answer? Is that why Miss… what's her name? I'll call her Doll-san for now. She's holding that Annabelle look-alike after all. Wait, that's not important right now, is it?!

"Do you really want to know?" asked the bespectacled boy. "I have conquered many other girls."

"So there are others?" Kanon asked. "Can you tell us who?"

They looked at each other, dread filling their hearts, before Yui said, "Yes. Please. They don't remember, do they?"

"No. Are you sure you want to know?"

"Get on with it!" Ayumi shouted.

"Fine. Then here it is."

He erased the schedule and began writing.

Mio Aoyama. Kusonoki Kasuga. Hinoki Kasuga. Jun Nagase. Minami Ikoma. Sumire Uemoto. Nanaka Haibara. Aoba Fuse. Tooru Amami. Asami Yoshino. Shino Akuragawa. Akari Kurakawa.

"You kissed all of them?" Kanon shouted, not sure if she was offended or not, but she was definitely hurt.

"Wait? Mio too?" Yui said, shocked.

"Fuse?" cried Shiori, her classmate.

"And Miss Nagase? The teacher!" Ayumi exclaimed.

"And Kusonoki Kasuga! No way!" Ayumi shouted. "And Asami too!"

"Counting us six here and Chihiro, that means that Keima has kissed about 19 girls before! Oh, my God!" the runner shouted. "You're… you're… a playboy!"

"A playboy does it for pleasure and with his own free will. I didn't have a choice in the matter. They needed to be saved. Anything else?" asked Keima.

No one said anything.

"Good. That concludes the meeting!"

At that, Keima quickly ran towards the door and went inside his house before he could be accosted by the girls. Cupid was quick to follow, fearing that his current resemblance with Keima would earn him even more bruises.

Also, he needed ice. His lips were swelling up quite badly.

"Thank you for coming! Diving Brother will see you when it's time!" Elsie said, bowing to the six remaining girls.

"Yes. Come again another time! Don't tell this to anyone. Otherwise, it would be a violation of Katsuragi's contract with New Hell, and he and Elsie would die!" said Haqua before the girls, still stunned, began to walk out.

Minutes Later…

"I got to hand it to you, that went exactly like you said it would," Haqua told Keima in the living room. She was looking at the script that Keima handed her before the start of the meeting, and as she perused it, she was astounded by its accuracy. "I can't believe you made all the Goddesses' hosts share you with each other!"

Haqua didn't even consider that Keima also wanted Chihiro to join the schedule. If anything, she thought that he felt guilty for exposing her as much as he did during the search, so he thought he should at least explain things to her properly before they went their separate ways. She did deserve at least that much from him, and Haqua was happy that Keima would give her that much.

"Of course, I am the God of Conquests! Almost everything went as planned! And even if it didn't, I had contingency plans ready," he said, faking to be quite pleased with himself. The only thing unexpected was the hug by Kanon, Shiori, and Tsukiyo that was allowed by Haqua, despite his instruction to keep the girls away from him. He was weak against physical contact he did not initiate. Not to mention Chihiro… but Keima decided this was not the time to sulk over it. "Knowing their personalities and their affection for me, it's like predicting the questions of an exam by Mr. Kodoma!"

"Can you tell me again why you did it? I thought you messed up by admitting you didn't love them or even like them!" the devil genius asked.

"I believe they should know the truth. I plan on making them fall in love with Keima Katsuragi."

"But they already do! You conquered them already. Twice!" Elsie said.

"Yes. But they fell in love with a false me. A fake persona that I specifically designed for them to fall in love with. This time, I intend to make them fall in love with the real me. That way, it would be easier to maintain that love for the next three or more years, if it comes down to that," though of course, he wished with every fiber of his being that it wouldn't come down to that. "I will conquer them for the third time, and this time they'll fall for the real me, and I'm gonna make it stick. It should be easier this time around."

"How do you know that?"

"I've done this lots of times."

At the skeptical looks that he received, he added, "in games. You see, it's easier for the protagonist to get the heroine to fall in love again if the heroine was already in love, or had fallen in love before, with the protagonist. The key to getting a happy ending is to rekindle the affection points that led to the heroine falling for the hero in the first place. In this case, I am the protagonist. All of them, my heroines, had fallen for me before, twice even. Therefore, it is easier to make them fall in love with me the third time. Seeing the real me, they would rationalize everything to justify their love for me. They saw the real me at the meeting. And I did not detect that their love for me had diminished at all."

Cupid looked skeptical, but he chose to keep quiet for now.

"What are you talking about! They cried when you told them you don't love them!" Haqua shouted. "You're a bad man, making them cry like that! You men are all the same! Heart-breaking perverts! And Chihiro refused to join the schedule!"

Ouch. She really didn't need to mention that.

"They wouldn't cry if they didn't like me. Their reaction shows that they still long for my love, and when I gave them hope, they seized it. When I told them that I cared for them, I could almost see their affection levels rise. You could see it in their eyes, their body language. Despite you saying that I should live in the real world, sometimes, the real world can be a lot like the ideal. Although an admittedly shittier version. God is just the shittiest dev."

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Cupid said, gently pressing a package of frozen beans to his mouth.

"After I had crushed all those hopes, and smashed their hearts saying that at first, I didn't care for them, I pulled them back in by saying I care for them now and that I will save each and every one of them. Really, that line was repeated over and over and over in games. The hero would tell the heroine that he didn't love her when they met, or at the start, and the heroine would be crushed. But then, the hero will say that he changed his mind after getting to know her, and that he came to like her more and more after spending time together, until he truly fell in love with her. That would make the heroine love the hero even more because it would tell her that she had done enough to change the hero! That line is so cliché! But it works! And it worked here too! The only difference was that instead of love, it's 'care'!"

"It also worked because it's the truth, isn't it, Divine Brother?"

"No comment," he said. Yes, he cared for them. That was shown when Kanon was stabbed. Or when he risked his own life to save Tsukiyo's. Or even during Kanon's original conquest, when he decided to get to the root of her problem, instead of making her fall in love with him by making himself a crutch. He wasn't about to announce it to everyone, though.

But how did that happen?

When did he start caring for others?

He still didn't know.

He probably never would.

"So what's next?"

"Ayumi and Shiori are next. Despite what happened today, even if they remain in love with me, I still have a lot of issues to fix with both girls," he said, remembering the events of the Mai High festival. He felt awful with how he handled things with Chihiro and Ayumi. He made so many avoidable mistakes.

"Anything else?" asked Elsie.

"Nothing much. Oh yes, before I forget, I need a favor, Haqua."

"I'm not your servant!" she retorted.

"I need a week free from Weiss hunting. I promise that after this week is over, I'll go back to it, but I need to talk to and convince each girl individually. I promise that if you detect a Weiss, I'm going to capture it right after I spend time with the last girl."

"Fine. But if your collar explodes, don't blame me!"

"The collar's fake though," Cupid reminded her. "You should pay more attention. This is an important plot point."

"I know!"—she didn't. She actually forgot—"I was just joking!"

"And another thing," Keima said. "This is for the long haul, right? I need to keep this up for three years, right? Then please, keep them together with me."

"Huh?" asked Elsie.

"In a little over a year, we'll all be graduating. Normally, we would split up. Go to different colleges and universities. But if that happens, then I cannot do my job properly. Their affection levels might go down, and the Goddesses will lose their powers. Though that might not happen, it's best to be cautious. I need them to go to the same University that I am going to. And it must be near Maijima."

"What do you want me to do?" asked a genuinely curious Haqua.

"Well, let's see. First, the girls should pass the entrance examinations for my chosen school. If they need it, I'll tutor them so they'll pass. But just to be sure, if they fail, just change some of their answers. And I don't think it'd be hard to persuade them to go to the same college as me, but their parents might be another matter. So here's my idea. Could you modify or fix the memories of their parents, if they decide to enroll their daughter in another school, so they would choose what I chose for them?"

"That's ruthless. But yes, I could do that."

"Of course, to be sure, just in case they took entrance examinations in other schools, if need be, could you fix their results so they'd fail their exams in those other schools while passing my school?"

"That's doable."

"Hopefully, the parents will decide on their own to send their daughters to my university, and the girls pass, so we won't have to do anything unethical."

To be honest, if you took the time to think about it, their parents probably won't refuse. The university he chose is the very best in Maijima. The only better choice in the country is Tokyo University itself, so if anything, the girl's parents will be thrilled to send them there. If he taught them well, they could get scholarships. And even if he didn't, with Haqua's help, they'd still get scholarships. So, win-win.

"That would be for the best."

"And monitor if they're gonna move out to another place. If they would do so, fix it. Modify their parents' memories if you need to. The girls need to stay in Maijima!"

"Right."

"That's it then. My solution may not be ideal, but at least, it maximizes my gaming time."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Elsie asked, puzzled by the non-sequitur.

"I designed the schedule to leave me with as much free time for games as possible."

"I want to kill you! You're so cold and cruel!" the section chief hissed.

"I know, I know. I just want to save them, all of them," said Keima. "And I can't save them if I die due to lack of gaming time. Games are my oxygen. Don't worry, I'll save them."

Just like I saved the girls before. Even if I had to be cruel to do so.

Even if it sucked.

He cursed the real world for getting him in this dilemma. He could complain for weeks, but in the end, the best thing he could do was adapt. True to the adage, if life gives you lemons, you squeeze them in that fucker's eyes. The ideal will triumph!

"About that," Cupid said. "I'm sorry, Partner, but could you and Haqua come with me? There are some things we need to discuss".

"Eh?!" Elsie shouted. "What about me?"

Cupid (tried to) smile. "Because someone needs to make dinner."

"Oh! I see! I'll make something delicious then!"

Katsuragi then, not for the first time, considered fleeing his own house.

****Later…****

All of the supernatural residents of the house, minus Elsie, gathered in Keima's room—which was challenging, considering 80 percent of the room was occupied by games, consoles, books, etcetera.

"Why did you call us here?" Haqua said, trying to make herself comfortable in Keima's Super Gamer Chair.

"We need to discuss some sensitive topics. Due to the sensitive nature of the information I will share with you, it's better for Elsie to be absent for this."

The district chief took offense to that. "Elsie is as involved in this as all of us are! She deserves to know!"

"You'll change your mind soon enough," Cupid sighed, rubbing his temples. "Look, if by the end of this, you still wish to tell Elsie, feel free to do so, but until then, please hear me out first."

A tense silence befell the dark room, but the Devil didn't press the issue further.

"The things we will discuss now will not be pleasant, but they're pivotal in our efforts to save everyone." Cupid produced two simple pieces of paper from his pocket. "These papers show which girls are in the most danger as of right now," he told them, offering them the papers.

There, they could see the girls' names. From the one in the most peril to the ones free of danger.

Ayumi

Shiori

Tsukiyo

Yui

Tenri

Kanon

"Huh? Cupid, are you sure of this?" He could see why Ayumi would be high on the list, but Shiori? Tsukiyo? Those two hadn't even remotely shown motives for concern. Tsukiyo even hugged him!

"Yes," Cupid replied simply. "Though it is not yet possible for you to see them, Ayumi and Shiori's life force is quite feeble. It's getting so severe, I hypothesize they're only still living due to my sisters' low-energy consumption." He knew Mercury well enough to know she spent most of her time sleeping, so the burden on Ayumi's body would be limited to the minimum required to keep Mercury from returning to her slumbering form. On the other side, Shiori seems to be continuously supporting his youngest sister's manifestation skill on top of the effort needed to keep her from returning to the slumbering form, putting her in quite the bitter spot.

"I'm sure their energy is being consumed even now. Tsukiyo, luckily, is surprisingly well for now, which is simply impressive when you consider how… liberally Vulcanus uses her powers. Still, her condition could become perilous soon if we—no, you don't do something to replenish her energy." Tsukiyo's feelings were strong, surprisingly so, even. But if they kept being put to the test… Well, the three of them know the consequences of messing this up.

"Hold on, you're capable of seeing their life force? If so—" Cupid cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"I can, but my sisters don't know how. They were imprisoned together with the Old Devils before the spell's invention. So, no, they're not conscious of the effects they unwittingly deliver onto their hosts."

"And the others?" The section chief questioned.

"They're fine," he told them honestly. "Apollo's host is so full of love she could fight the entirety of hell by herself. As for the other two, there's no issue, which is why the other three should be our priority".

"I don't think I've done something to upset either Shiori or Tsukiyo."

The God of Love suddenly shouted. "Oh you don't think so, huh?!" This took the two other people in the room by surprise; the Devil even positioned herself to jump between the two if needed.

"So, in your world, not keeping your promises is cool? Well, then I guess forcing people to relieve childhood trauma must be trendy!" Cupid shot the most venomous look he could muster in the direction of the other boy, who responded with the coldest eyes he knew how to pull off—which, as it turns out, were fucking antarctic.

"Excuse me?" He politely responded, though he couldn't hide the thorns in his tone. Cupid continued undeterred. If he were to be honest, his host's mien only served to incense Cupid further.

"You are so blind you don't see—no, you don't even bother to think of the consequences of your actions. You feel no worry for how your stunts, your stupid, thoughtless schemes hurt others!" Not done with his invective speech, Cupid inched closer to his silent host, prompting the section chief to rise from her spot; the blunt side of her scythe set for striking the God if he did any movements she did not like. "I'm surprised Mercury woke up, seeing how your method most likely destroyed Ayumi's heart!"

The brunet snorted.

Cupid turned red in fury.

"You're right."

"Screw yo—hold up, huh?"

"I messed up," he told him; his eyes were cold like winter. "I know I hurt lots of people. I know I should've done better, but I couldn't. And I couldn't 'cuz I'm not perfect. For one whole week, I sought four Goddesses who didn't wish to be found. Even with her help," he pointed to the only girl in the room. "I succeeded out of sheer luck," the intensity in his voice did not permit interruptions. They found out they didn't need to. There were no excuses being told there, no "sorry," just the cruel, unforgiving truth.

"I know, better than anyone, that I messed up. And even now, I'm sure there are things I did that hurt others that I'm not even aware of. But—"to both Haqua and Cupid's surprise, Keima stepped closer to the God of Love. "If you think I'm not doing something right, or that I'm not seeing something, tell me. Don't you ever shout at me again. If I'm in this position, it is because you Gods and Devils put me in it, so you don't have the right to raise your voice at me. Not now. Not ever. I'm not the one who called for you. You asked me for help, so. Watch. Your. Tone."

God stepped back.

"I'm sorry if I offended you, but the problem is so obvious I don't comprehend how you do not see it," Cupid did his best to keep a strong front, but Keima was just looking at him a certain way...

"Then tell me."

Cupid gulped. "W-Well, then I, the God of Love, will dispel your doubts!" Cupid tried to return to his normal speech pattern, hoping it would somehow lessen the sudden tension. "Shiori is cheerless because you broke your promise to her. You told her you'd visit the library every day, but you never did."

"And how do you know that?"

"Well, we share the same body, so I have access to your memories," which was the wrong thing to tell him right now, as, in addition to the icy stare, Keima's eyes now gained a certain sharpness that didn't make Cupid feel safe.

"So, you can see my memories. Truly, the ultimate violation of privacy." Keima was wondering if he was still in time to call this whole thing off. He could save the girls without Cupid. "And you're lying. I never promised her anything."

And this was true. Keima's words were "Can I visit the library every day?" Shiori had never answered his question; sure, he had never given her the chance to, as he had walked off as soon as he said his piece.

"But from the context, it sounded like a promise," Cupid defended. "So even if, in truth, you didn't promise, she thought you did. With how you worded things, I'm sure she thought you confessed to her!"

"I had to," in order to save Kanon, he needed to rekindle the girls' affections for him. Now, though, "If that's all, I'll fix it."

He couldn't go visit Shiori all the time now, as it would violate the rules of the schedule, not to mention he probably wouldn't even have the time to. Shiori, having accepted the schedule, knows that. All that's left now is to increase her love points, which will solve the life force problem. He'd have to plan something good very soon. If Cupid's words were to be trusted, Shiori's time was running out.

"And Tsukiyo?"

Cupid sighed. "When you met her, much like you, she lived in her own little world; her own version of the ideal, if you would. However, unlike you, who lives in fantasy out of preference, Tsukiyo did so out of necessity."

"Because of her parents' divorce," the brunet concluded.

"Correct," Cupid nodded. "This resulted in Tsukiyo despising emotions, which she considered ugly. So she isolated herself, but that's history. Let's consider more recent events. Both times you conquered her, you ditched her. Every time you do, you hurt her. You only show her the ugly side of love, just like how her folks did with the divorce." And I'm not even mentioning how you deceived her. "If things keep going on like this, then I won't be surprised if she ends up reverting to how she used to be."

"True," Keima conceded. In Tsukiyo's case, he never managed to remove the root of the problem. He had her fall in love with him, kissed her and, with the case solved, he moved on to the next girl. If he wanted to save her for good, he'd have to do better. Much better. The question being: how? He trusted in his knowledge of games to solve every issue so far, but, somehow, he felt like Bishoujo Games logic wouldn't help him cure deeply rooted psychological problems.

"So, now you know," Cupid crossed his arms. "Thoughts?"

"Plenty," he told him. "But right now, I need to give these issues more thought." In truth, he wondered if the issues were truly so severe. In the meeting, Ayumi, Shiori and Tsukiyo had seemed fine, but he's been wrong before. "For now, I think the best thing I can do is spend time with them to see for myself whether or not their conditions are as dire as you claim."

Cupid huffed, throwing his hands in the air. "So you think I'm lying."

"No, but you could be wrong." And he hoped he was. Things were looking complicated before this information was brought up. Now, on top of his usual job of purging the Weiss, he had to simultaneously keep the affections of six different girls while playing psychiatrist for some of them. Oh, and failure to accomplish these objectives meant someone's death in the best case scenario. If things went FUBAR, then he'd have to attend more than one funeral.

Much to his own chagrin, he had to recognize that Cupid was right. He was overlooking things and, in all likelihood, there are even more issues than just the ones Cupid mentioned. "Right now, I need information directly from the source." Keima fell to his bed, feeling more tired than ever. "I just hope no Runaway Spirits show up until I have this on some degree of control."

"Don't worry," Haqua told him. "With Cupid's power, even if we encounter an emergency case, you'll be able to fill the gap in the girl's heart no problem, right?"

"Huh…" suddenly, the God of Love found the floor to be quite interesting.

"What?" Surprisingly, it was none other than the Devil sounding highly upset.

"Well… we can't use the Authority of Love to have girls fall for my Partner…"

"Explain yourself immediately." Keima tiredly demanded.

"To summarize, the effect of my Authority of Love is everlasting—unless, of course, the people under the spell discover they're under its influence. Not even New Hell's memory tampering magic would work once I've done my job."

"So, if you use it…"

"You'll have much more than six girls to worry about."

"Headaches," Kei said. "You are giving me headaches. Give me solutions for once in your miserable existence, you low-budget off-brand product."

"Off-brand?" Cupid asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Solutions!"

"Oh, right," Cupid tried to nervously pace around the room, but there wasn't enough space with the three of them there, not to mention all of his Partners' stuff, so he ended up fidgeting in place.

"The spell stops working once the people involved discover they're under its effect, right? We could just tell them once we're done." Haqua du Lot Herminium, bless her soul, tried to help him, but Cupid knew it wouldn't be so simple.

"Well, there's two problems with that," Cupid raised two fingers, looking at Haqua. "First, the girl would've to believe it, which in itself isn't so difficult if I show up with the wings out, or something or other to that effect. Otherwise, they'd assume you're trying to be romantic in some weird, quirky kind of way."

"But it'd work!" Kei pointed his finger in God's direction. "Then we can have New Hell erase their memories safely!"

"Second finger," answered Cupid. "In other words, the second problem. People who have discovered that they were under the effects of my Cupid Arrows… haven't had the most pleasant reactions."

"One would assume," the section chief scoffed. "I'd be upset too if I found out I had my feelings messed with. But, besides kicking your ass six ways to Sunday, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Ever heard of the Witch of Colchis?"

Kei frowned. He knew the moniker, he was sure of it, but he couldn't remember where he'd hear it. Fuck, he thought. All these things are messing with my mind. Even my memory has been compromised!

"Oh crap," were, I kid you not, Haqua's words.

"Yeah." Cupid nodded knowingly. "She's the most famous—or maybe I should say infamous? She's the most well-known case of my Authority going wrong, but there have been others." Cupid had the decency to look remorseful. "Most Gods of Love have had similar issues, which is why we normally don't use our primary ability anymore. Yue Lao is the only one of us who is allowed to use his Authority without requesting permission, because his ability is safe."

"HIM!" Kei shouted. "I want to work with him!"

Cupid looked hurt. "You're already changing me for someone else! You unfaithful bastard!" Then he pretended to cry for five seconds before replying with his best deadpan expression. "It wouldn't work, either. Yue Lao's Authority is based around the concept of Soulmates. It can't be used on just anyone."

"So nothing has changed," the Devil concluded. "He's going to have to keep using the same method he has been using up until now."

"No," Cupid shaked his finger in negative. "We don't have the time. I promise we use my arrows to have girls fall in love with someone who isn't my Partner."

"Huh?" Kei replied, flabbergasted but hopeful.

"It's very simple! We just have to direct one girl's love towards someone, yes? That someone doesn't have to be you!" Kei saw the light. He understood Cupid's suggestion. Oh the gaming time I'll recover from this!

"If a girl has a Runaway Spirit in her heart, then all we need to do is find some guy who'd do the heavy lifting for you! So even after you've finished the job, once my arrow has done its job, the girl will have fallen in love with a boy who isn't you. And to prevent the boy from rejecting the girl, making our work in vain, we will shoot the arrow of love at him too!"

"So I can devote myself completely to my gaming!" Kei said, smiling like a little kid.

"Katsuragi," the valedictorian then used her best no-nonsense tone to fulminate all traces of Kei's happiness.

"So I can devote myself completely to my conquests." With the deadpan to end all deadpans, Katsuragi corrected himself.

"Yes!" Cupid cheered. "But no." He did his own deadpan expression. At this point, they were competing to decide the Deadpan Champion. "We'll need to spend time choosing who the boy will be. It'd be terrible if we ended up setting up some poor girl with someone like Jason. We will also need to help progress their relationship."

So, there's no upside. Except for the fact that he wouldn't have to be the one doing the conquest. Also, "The girls will need to believe I'm the one doing the conquest. And who's Jason?"

"Of course," Cupid nodded. "The only reason they agreed to the schedule is because you told them you couldn't pick one of them right now, since you'd have to cheat on them to do your job. And he's a prick."

"So the web of lies grows…" The valedictorian sighed.

"We will have to follow the couple, too. Someone will have to be there to capture the Weiss once it's out." The district chief, now in full work mode, reminded them.

"No! We will destroy the souls of the Old Devils!"

This took the two other occupants of the room by surprise.

"Why?" They found themselves asking simultaneously.

"As you know, all of the Runaway Spirits that are captured are then delivered to New Hell, or so they've told you, but I think we know better now."

Herminium shifted her posture. "You…"

"In truth, the Weiss collected by you all are indeed delivered to New Hell, but instead of purifying them, as I'm sure they told you they would, they kept them in secure, hidden locations where they could have the chance to mature. Otherwise, they were used for other nefarious purposes we do not know". Cupid finished, his expression somber.

She wished with all of her being to tell him that he's wrong, but, like he had said, she knew better. Even the God of Conquests had guessed as much when he discovered the mountain packed full of Level 4 Weiss inside of it.

Herminium understood all too-well. New Hell was full of Vintage members both in low and high positions. They were in every division, in every single sector of their current government. Even Chief Dokuro, while she helped her escape, had told her that she was technically with Vintage. In essence, it meant that Vintage had enough power to force the War Hero Dokuro to play to their tune.

Cupid took one good, long look into the crimson eyes of the Devil. "I see I don't need to convince you."

She smiled self-deprecatingly. "No, you don't. During the Goddesses Search, I found out all sorts of things I wish I hadn't."

"So the question is: how much of New Hell is under Vintage's command?" Kei wondered, mostly to himself, but he received his answer.

"All of it," Haqua told him, much to Keima's shock. "Some of them don't even know they're being used, much like I didn't. I like to think most of them don't know." She smiled dolefully. "I knew too much, so I drew the attention of the Public Safety Department." She laughed acerbically. "They confined me for days, then…" They tortured me, but she didn't want to tell him that. She didn't want to think about it, either. "I managed to escape." Then, it occurred to her that, maybe, there had been others like her. People who knew too much, but didn't get to escape. How many? For how long?

And now the memories are there.

She was forced out of most of her clothing, stripped down to nothing but the bare minimum. Her hands and neck were cuffed to the device constantly giving her electric shocks. Her body was chained to it. And that disgusting thing they had put on her…

And those assholes were looking at the whole thing, enjoying every second of it. It made her sick.

And all for what? Because she had been trying her best? Because she was trying hard to protect the "dignity" she once believed the Runaway Spirit Squad to have? Is that why she had to suffer like that? But she was one of the lucky ones. Her wrists and neck were still bruised, but at least she was alive. She was sure others couldn't say the same.

She had been trying to keep her mind off of it, but Cupid just had to expose New Hell's true nature.

And right in front of Keima, too.

Yesterday, when she asked him why he was involving her in this mess, he had answered with "because I trust you" with no hesitation whatsoever. But in the end, I'm just an incompetent fool who knows nothing. There's nothing I can do. I can't do anything to save New Hell. It didn't even occur to me that they had been using the Weiss we captured with so much effort to hurt others! Now everyone will know I'm just one big failure who should've—

"It's going to be fine." Someone said, right next to her. She turned to her left, where she saw two soft, brown eyes. "We'll figure it out."

She didn't understand the current position she was in. She was sure she was standing mere moments ago, but now she's sitting on Katsuragi's bed for some reason. And Katsuragi was sitting close to her, but not too close. Her fingers were trembling. Her mouth was dry. Her eyes were burning, but…

The oddest thing… was the hand clumsily rubbing circles on her back. The usually cold, uncaring voice, now warm and strong but still slightly gentle, telling her that "We'll fix things. I promise."

She didn't know if she wanted to cry or laugh. She must have been freaking out pretty bad if he felt the need to console her. "And from which game is that line?" She chuckled, still shivering.

"None. These are my words."

He kept his eyes firmly locked to hers. She saw no falsehood there, but that only made her want to snort. "And how are we fixing it?"

"Vintage is threatening the whole world," Cupid told her, not that she bothered looking in his direction. Even so, he only smiled. "We were always going to have to go up against them eventually."

"We don't even know how many of them there are," she countered. "You're talking about war here.'

"There will be no wars," Katsuragi replied.

That's not possible, she thought. Her rational mind told her as much, but the part of her brain in charge of her emotions believed every single word he said.

"A method will always exist. Even if we don't know how to fix everything right now, we will find out how. I promise."

She smiled. He's known for breaking promises, after all. She knew. She had been watching. Those words of his were nothing more than sweet lies he told her to help her, like how his lies helped the other girls. She knew, but right now, she didn't care. She chose to relish the feeling of his warm hand on her back, of his eyes focused on her as if she was the only thing in the world. She allowed herself this much for much longer than she'd ever admit.

But all things need to end, so after some more minutes she stood up, going back to the usual Haqua."Well, we have a ton of things to do. How about we resume where we left off, huh?"

Cupid smiled, thinking "strong girl" before adopting a more neutral expression. "There's not much else to discuss. For now, all you have to do is be very careful when contacting Hell. Also, take this." Cupid produced a radar from his pocket, identical to the ones Haqua and Elsie use, and offered it to the Devil.

"Another one of your inventions, I presume." The God of Conquests looked it over.

"Why, yes!" Cupid cheerfully replied. "The hair accessory-like radar Devils use records the energy signals of the Weiss into their database, which allows them to keep track of them. We don't need them to know, so this one has the same functions as the one you have, minus the recording function."

The Devil threw her old hairpin like it burned her before replacing it with Cupid's improved version.

"And of course, I have one for Elsie too," Cupid informed them, still smiling.

"Thank you for the gift," she smiled. "But onto more pressing concerns. You said we'd have to destroy souls, right? That's one of the highest taboos in magic, so it's never really taught to us. It's considered Lost Magic, so I can't do it."

"And you won't. He will," he pointed his index finger at the unassuming God of Conquests.

"Pardon?"

"Right now, you have plenty of skills as my host. One of them is the power to terminate evil souls, though…" Here, Cupid, for the first time, looked dead serious. "You must fall in love."

"Pardon?" Part 2: Electric Boogaloo.

"I believe you know this, but let me remind you just in case: Gods become stronger when they're in love. The bigger the love, the stronger the power. It's similar to the Goddesses' situation." There were some differences, but it wouldn't be good to overwhelm him with information, seeing how he looks like he's trying to solve advanced physics right now.

Herminium looked equally puzzled. "This guy?" She pointed at the mystified God of Conquests. "Fall in love?"

"Yes, him," Cupid sighed. "Once he does, he'll have to learn to use his new skills."

"Do I really have to?"

"Yes."

"With… 3D Girls?" The God of Conquests wondered. He supposed he had done it before. He still had feelings for Chihiro, after all. But Chihiro rejected him. Now, still brokenhearted, he's supposed to just bounce right back, fall in love with someone else like nothing happened? Let me go back to my 2D heroines, damn it! I need to heal!

"Well, I don't think you'll have much trouble. You two looked really sweet just now," Cupid fondly remembered how his Partner had acted with the Devil girl mere minutes ago.

She blushed like hell, but kept quiet.

He blushed like hell, but retorted with "Oh fuck you."

Cupid smiled. "If you'd prefer to try the more physical aspects of love, I'd suggest you practice with Haq—" In the face of the Scythe of Testament, shrouded in blue fire, the God of Love couldn't help but feel like maybe, just maybe, these people didn't know how to take his jokes.

"I dare you to finish that sentence. I double dare you." Confirmed. These people can't handle comedy, thought Cupid.

"Well, in that case, I think we're done for today!" God tried to sound cheerful, but he was actually intimidated by the Devil's weapon.

"That's all?" Kei wondered. "Why couldn't we have Elsie listen to this? Now we'll have to eat her cooking!"

When Herminium lowered her scythe, Cupid scratched his neck. "Well, to be honest, I had this whole speech about why we couldn't trust New Hell all planned out, you know? I thought it'd be too much for Elsie. I just didn't think Miss District Chief over here knew as much as she does."

"We're still going to have to tell her eventually," Herminium told him. "She's in danger too."

"I suppose so…" Cupid admitted.

"There's something I have to say," Keima stood up from his bed. His eyes focused on Cupid. "I will do everything to save the girls. I will not allow your sisters' to drain them of all their life energy, nor will I allow Vintage to do as they please with them or with New Hell. If there's truly no other choice, then I will fight, but our partnership, as well as this whole theater, is temporary. By the end of this, maybe I will choose one of the girls, maybe I will choose none." He pointed his index finger straight to the God of Love's face. "But by the end of the three years, I want you, and your sisters, gone."

In front of the severity in Keima's eyes, Cupid chuckled. "If you think you can solve all of the world's problems in three years, then you are delusional. However, if by some miracle you do it, consider it done. But, spoiler alert, as you people say these days, our partnership will last more than merely three years. Also, my sisters won't leave their hosts until they find true happiness."

"Then they'll have to find happiness in something other than love." No one ever said you could only find fulfillment in life through love. If anything, right now, love was an incredibly obnoxious curse in his eyes. "True Happiness" does not equate love.

"So you won't even consider the Harem Ending?"

He snorted "I'd sooner eat my own PFP!" The God of Love had to hold back his laughter, but he did unleash the ultimate shit-eating smile since the birth of the universe. "Sounds interesting!" Cupid flourished with his arms, gesturing towards his Partner in Crime. "God of Conquests, you who'd conquer the hearts of others, never once opening your own, I, God of Love Cupid, indeed accept this bet! You must not worry! I shall invent something to allow you to swallow your toy without consequence to your well-being!"

"Game on, you unholy misfortune! I am the Otoshigami Katsuragi Keima! My will is of steel, my blood is of fire! Unknown to defeat, I stand on a hill of Galges! So my heart is protected by Unlimited 2D Heroines!" In Otoshigami-mode, he turned on all of his consoles. Every screen in the once dim room flared to life, revealing God's Domain.

Completely undeterred by the many Heroines of the Ideal, Cupid smiled as he raised his fist in the air. "Finally! A worthy adversary! Our battle will be legendary!" Extending his wings to match the energy of his Partner/Rival, he shouted "You're someone who can understand others, but who is incapable of understanding himself! The reason why you've failed to fall in love is merely because you've shielded—nay—hidden yourself behind your games, never giving yourself the chance to truly know someone else, nor have you given others the chance to know your true self!"

God laughed to the heavens. "You're no longer allowed to hide! From now on we will truly see an epic tale no one yet knows! Morrow can't come soon enough!" With those final words, Cupid's body turned translucent, striking until it became an ordinary golden PFP.

Then, after some silence, Haqua du Lot Herminium, who had been awkwardly standing there throughout the weird exchange of the two lunatics, against her better judgment, decided to speak. "Hey, Katsuragi, I'm staying over tonight."

"Umm? Yeah, sure. Please help Elsie with dinner."

"I will." And she left the room, wondering if the world would be fine with those two protecting it. Oh, and "Remember to knock before you enter the bathroom!"

"Sure," he said, not really paying her attention now that he could finally immerse himself in his games. Truly, the girl could've asked him to marry her right then and there and his answer would've been "Sure."

—

Right now, under everyone's nose, there are obscure forces looming over the Earth. Thunder will fall upon the land, unbeknownst to all.

This is the story of four young men, fighting to perverse this tiny blue star. Naught but the tale of four young boys, trying to protect those they love.

The World No One Knows: Chapter 2 End.

Author's Notes:

Rickky06: I want to apologize for taking too long. It's all so different from last time for me. We also did a Re-Update of chapter 1, as thanks to a review by Xellos540 we realized we had made some mistakes (which we promptly corrected.)

Also, Kyo and I have decided to eliminate a heroine from the story. Yes, I hope I didn't overdo it... (Yes, Chihiro is out of the game. She has become a secondary character…) Don't hate us/me for this, please.

But since surprises are never enough, we also have other plans. And one of those will happen in the next chapter, and will make things easier in some ways.

Kyotō Yasuri: I'd like to apologize for the delay. Please accept this over 17K monstrosity of a chapter as an apology. Also, a lot of the chapter was heavily inspired by The World The Girls Also Know: The Girls God Can Only Save by William F Somebody. If you're reading, I really wish I could've seen the end of your story.

Anyways, I'm not very sure of how the end product turned out. This chapter is technically the collaboration of three different authors, each with their own styles, so, to be honest, I feel like it might be a mess.

I also want to promise you that we won't get inspiration again for other chapters. From this point onwards, it's all original (you know, minus the concept of the girls dying if Keima stops spending time with them).