"Sensei, can you tell Aris the difference between a Holy and Demonic sword?" Aris asked Sensei while taking a break from another 'adventure', which mostly involved walking around and helping anyone who needed help. "I do understand that they represent Good and Evil, but Aris doesn't understand why some heroes wield a Demonic sword instead of a Holy sword."

"Broadly speaking, the main difference comes down to the wielder's purpose," Sensei said. "Heroes who are known for righteousness and their pursuit of a noble purpose would have their weapon known as a 'Holy sword'. On the other hand, heroes who are known for being selfish and have committed atrocities would have their weapon known as a 'Demonic sword'. Of course there are exceptions, but that's a different story."

"So not all heroes are good people?"

"Perhaps during their time they were judged as good people. It is hard to say unless you get the chance to meet the hero in the flesh."

"Sensei, did you meet a hero of legend in the past?"

"Multiple actually. They were quite a colorful bunch, and I didn't get along with all of them," Sensei said with an exasperated smile. "In any case, some heroes are unquestionably good, while others barely fit the definition of good."

"Oooh, like the Alignment system in some games!" Aris exclaimed, before adding, "Though Aris doesn't really want to pick the bad choices in those games."

"That's alright. Games are meant to be entertaining. There is no need to do something in a game if you don't enjoy it," Sensei said. "And just like in those games, you are free to choose the kind of hero you want to be in real life."

"Aris wants to become a hero who goes around and helps the people she sees in trouble!" Aris exclaimed as she clenched both her hands. "Just like Sensei!"

Sensei made an awkward smile. While he was glad that Aris was looking up to him, he was also worried that she might be following a bit too closely in his footsteps.

"Just to make sure…" Sensei started, "If you find yourself in a difficult choice and you can only pick one or the other, what are you going to do?"

"That's simple, Sensei!" Aris said. "I'll work with my party to find a better way to solve it!"

"Party…" Sensei was reminded of Yukino's words as he chuckled. "Yes, that's a good answer."

…

…

…

After the encounter with Decagrammaton, Noa and Chihiro stayed behind to assess the damage of the recent incident while Yuuka came along with Sensei as they brought the listless Key back to the Game Development Department's club room.

"I have many questions for you, such as the fact regarding Aris being an android but—" Yuuka said as she looked at the admittedly heavy Sword of Light. "Are you sure you don't need my help with that?"

"I can actually strengthen myself a bit more to the point where I can carry it as easily as Aris does, but that will eat into my mana reserves far too much for my liking," Sensei said before glancing at Key, who was obediently following behind them.

"I know she's not actually Aris right now, but I still can't help but be worried with how depressed she looks," Yuuka whispered to Sensei. "Should we try to cheer her up?"

"Perhaps after we reach the GDD's clubroom. Perhaps Aris and Key will respond positively to being in a familiar environment," Sensei replied, having assumed that Key had been secretly observing from inside Aris' mind for some time now.

"By the way, Yuuka," Sensei said as he looked up. "Do you know why those drones are following us?"

"Drones?" Yuuka followed Sensei's line of sight and found a few drones flying above them. "There's nothing to worry about Sensei. And I think you'll find out soon anyway."

"And you're not telling me now why?"

Yuuka made a mischievous smile. "Payback for the times you refuse to give me a straight answer."

"I guess that's fair," Sensei said. Normally he would have pointed out how Yuuka kept looking back to check on Aris, or rather Kei, but he remained silent for now.

"That's Sensei, right?" A Millennium student wearing a lab gown said.

"I wonder if something happened..." Another one wearing a similar attire said.

"Isn't that the railgun my seniors in the Engineering club created? How is he even carrying that?"

"Yeah, it's Aris' personal gun. Maybe she's just a little tired?"

"Don't you know how heavy that thing is? Sensei doesn't even have a halo yet he's carrying it like it's nothing!"

On second thought, I think it's mostly my fault the students are staring at us, Sensei thought as he made a wry smile as they continued walking. Utaha saw them and joined them for a bit to comment on Sensei's ability to carry the Sword of Light before she noticed the overall mood of the group and realized that something must have happened.

"Sensei," Utaha said before she left, "if there's anything the me and the rest of the Engineering club can do to help, please don't hesitate to call for our help. We want to help Aris too."

"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind," Sensei said as he waved her goodbye.

Eventually, they arrived in the Game Development Department's clubroom. There were a couple of droids with the label of 'AMAS' patrolling in the hall. Neru was outside leaning on the wall next to the door before she noticed their arrival and fixed her posture.

"Yo, Sensei! Aris, and Yuuka too," Neru said with a smile as she approached Aris in her usual intimidating manner. "Hey kid! What kind of trouble did you get into this time? Remember you still owe me a match at the arcade!"

Key didn't respond.

"Sensei, is the kid okay?" Neru asked while looking at the girl she thought was Aris with worry. "I don't know the details, only that Rio wanted me here as soon as possible."

"It would be better for you to listen to the upcoming discussion," Sensei said.

"I'll listen from the outside," Neru said. "There's too many people inside."

"Got it," Sensei said as Yuuka opened the door for him.

Once Sensei stepped in, he was tackled by Momoi who was in tears, followed by Midori, who expressed her surprise at the sight of Sensei carrying the Sword of Light.

"Sensei!" Momoi cried out, not minding that Yuuka was present.

"One moment." Sensei gestured for her to move a little so he could lower what he was carrying before he rotated the shoulder he used. "What's wrong, Momoi?"

"Sensei! You need to help us here!" Momoi exclaimed as she pointed further into the room where two students Sensei was unfamiliar with were located. One was tall and had a long black haired girl wearing a black uniform. The other was sitting on a wheelchair. She had long white hair, some being secured pigtails while the rest flowed freely on her back. She was wearing a flower ornament close to her left temple.

"Yuzu wouldn't leave her locker as a result." Midori was more composed about the situation, but it was clear that she was also confused by it. "All we know is that President Rio and President Himari are waiting for you and Aris."

"Thanks for the explanation, Midori," Sensei said with a smile.

"Since you have her gun, she was with you, right? Where is she now?"

Sensei and Yuuka stepped aside to reveal Key, who had been out of everyone's view.

"Aris!" The other members of the Game Development Department, including Yuzu who bravely stepped out of her locker, quickly checked on her. "Are you okay?!"

Key—No, Aris looked up. Her eyes glowed blue, as Sensei and Yuuka noticed.

"Momoi, Midori, Yuzu…No, not yet…" Aris' iris changed back to pink, indicating that Key, who had a surprised expression, had regained control. "Princess…? Princess you're okay!"

Key closed her eyes and stood there in silence, which worried everyone.

"Sensei, why…why is Aris acting strange?" Yuzu asked. "Who is she calling 'Princess'?"

"That's—"

"A second AI personality had emerged. 'Princess' must be the way this new AI calls the one you know as Aris," the tall black haired girl said as she approached with the girl in the wheelchair. "I would have preferred a more formal setting for our first meeting, but nice to meet you, Sensei. I am the leader of Seminar and Millennium Science School's Student Council President, Tsukatsuki Rio."

"And I am Millennium's delicate, most beautiful flower, and Veritas' President, Akeboshi Himari!" Himari said with a smile, but quickly frowned when she saw the lukewarm reaction from everyone. "It's unfortunate that my attempt to lighten the mood fell flat, but that is to be expected given the seriousness of the situation."

"I still appreciate it nonetheless," Sensei said as looked around the room. "Well, this meeting is going to take a while so I suggest you all make yourselves comfortable. But before that, can the girl hiding inside this room please reveal herself?"

The entire room went silent at Sensei's words.

Sensei sighed as he pulled out his Redhawk and pointed it in the direction he was keeping an eye on. "Again. Please reveal yourself."

"Um, Sensei, perhaps you're just tired?" Yuuka asked in concern.

"I am tired, Yuuka, which is why I wanted to cover all my bases and avoid any more potential complications, at least for today," Sensei admitted with a heavy smile. "Does Millennium have cloaking technology?"

"Yes, but that technology is highly regulated and needs President Rio's approval…to…" Yuuka fell silent with a complicated look on her face as she realized that she was unable to help with either Sensei or Rio due to a conflict of interest.

"Do you want me to disable the cloaking system, Sensei?" Himari however, had no such reservations. "I must admit that I didn't notice it myself until you pointed it out, but now that you did it's easy to disable it."

"Thanks, but I want to give her the choice on whether to do this the easy way or the hard way," Sensei said.

And once more there was no response.

"Alright, the hard way it is," Sensei said as a large amount of swords manifested around the room pointed at that spot he identified.

"That's…!" Himari exclaimed in fascination. "A supernatural phenomenon! Sensei, you must tell me all about your powers if we have the chance!"

"So the rumors were true after all…" Rio said with wide eyes.

"Stop stop stop! That's way too many swords!" Momoi exclaimed as she tried to stop Sensei to no avail.

"Um…Sensei, please?" Yuzu tugged on his sleeve.

"Midori, you gotta help me—Midori, why are you trying to draw right now?!"

"But it's such an awe-inspiring scene…" Midori muttered as her artistic side flared up. "Okay, I understand. Can you tone it down a little, Sensei?"

Sensei answered by reducing the number of blades from over thirty to a mere five.

"Who the hell pissed off Sensei this time?" Neru heard the commotion that was happening from outside and took a peek from the door and saw the swords fading away. "Whoa…"

But before Sensei could do anything else, Rio spoke up.

"I understand, Sensei. Toki, you can come out now," Rio ordered her bodyguard to come out.

"Understood." The wall that was supposed to be empty flickered as a girl appeared in front of them. Sensei raised an eyebrow when he saw that she was wearing a maid outfit.

"A member of C&C?" Sensei tilted his head as the swords in the room disappeared and looked at the door where Neru was.

Then she noticed the maid where the swords were pointing and was confused. "What the—Who the hell are you? You have C&C's uniform but I don't know you. Yuuka, you know who she is?"

"I do, she's—" Yuuka and Neru had their own conversation on the side. Meanwhile, the unknown C&C member introduced herself.

"Affiliated with C&C. Callsign 04. Asuma Toki. Nice to meet you, Sensei," the girl named Toki said while holding the hem of her skirt while curtsying. "You should not have been able to see through that optical camouflage, so how?"

"I have my ways. And sorry for lashing out on you just now. And I have to compliment your nerves of steel," Sensei said with a smile as he went to the clubroom's kitchen. "Now, before we start talking about our next course of action, is anyone hungry?"

…

Key, whose awareness had returned to reality after another failure at communicating with Aris, sat on the couch along with Neru, along with Momoi and Yuzu. They were trying to cheer Key up by inviting her to play a game, even if she wasn't exactly the same person as Aris as they stated that it didn't matter.

"You all are…" Sensei heard Key say. Eventually, they managed to get Key to play with them, which caused Sensei to smile a little as he continued to cook.

Rio, Yuuka, Himari, and Midori were sitting at the dinner table.

Their seating arrangement was as such:

Yuuka and Rio were seated side by side while Toki stood behind them. Across them were Himari and Midori. Sensei did have a seat reserved for him, but he was currently cooking. As the kitchen was not far from the table, the meeting could proceed, though Yuuka did have a strange look on her face as she watched Sensei prep the ingredients before she slowly shook her head before exchanging a look with Midori, who shared a look of understanding.

Yuzu, as the GDD's president, was supposed to be one on the table while the discussion was ongoing, but the poor girl was too intimidated at the combined presence of Seminar's President and Treasurer, not to mention Himari being Veritas' president. She felt that she was just going to get in the way of the discussion and wanted to try reaching out to Aris instead, which was why Midori chose to fill in for her.

Toki was offered a seat, but declined even after Rio allowed her to, stating that she had to remain vigilant while on a mission while she looked at Neru, who had started to relax. The two started arguing and Sensei stepped in before it devolved into a fight.

There were two topics that needed to be addressed.

The first was regarding Decagrammaton. At this, it was decided to focus on the more immediate issue regarding Hub's conversion to the eight prophet of Decagrammaton, Hod, and how to deal with its currently immobilized body in the campus. Midori remained silent on this matter as Millennium's higher-ups discussed it by themselves.

"We'll have to destroy it completely after we fully analyze it," Rio said. "Setting it free is not an option if the Third Prophet Binah in the Abydos Desert is of any indication, while disassembling it runs the risk of it rebuilding itself, however small the chance."

"What you're suggesting is completely inelegant and will cost Millennium a lot," Himari replied. "Your thoughts, Miss Treasurer?"

"It's true that it would be a huge loss to completely destroy Hub, but the potential damage it could do as Hod would lead to an even greater loss," Yuuka said. "But we always have the option of rebuilding Hub, so I will have to agree with you on this."

Himari sighed, though it was one of understanding. "Alright, but I want to personally investigate it before you destroy Hod."

"Regarding that matter," Rio said. "I have a proposal for you and Sensei. I'll tell you the details later."

"Interesting…And you can't tell me now why?"

"President," Yuuka said. "Is this about—"

"Yes, Yuuka. And I would appreciate it if you could remain silent on the matter as there are too many people here," Rio admitted as she looked at Midori. "Ideally, I wanted to bring this up to you in private, but here we are now."

"You and your need for secrecy even at a time like this…" Himari sighed once more. "Very well, let's move on."

The second issue to be discussed was regarding Aris, and now Key's existence.

"Himari, regarding our earlier conversation before Sensei arrived—"

"Rio, there's no more need to hide the fact that we were investigating Aris' identity," Himari said as she turned her attention to Sensei, who was now frying the meat. "I must apologize to you and the Game Development Department regarding the incident with the Mirror, Sensei. Rio and I are in agreement that it was something that must be done to learn more about Aris."

"We've more or less forgotten about it already to be honest…" Midori said. "We were more terrified about Neru basically strong-arming Aris to a duel after that."

"Hey, I heard that!" Neru yelled.

"It's a good plan, I must admit," Sensei said as he glanced at Yuuka, who told him about Himari's involvement in the incident after the fact.

"Sensei, we could have avoided all that headache if you just told me," Yuuka said.

"Haha, well what can I say? I got swept by the girls' enthusiasm." Sensei looked away from Yuuka as she glared at him. "I don't fault you for suspecting Aris' identity as much as you don't fault me for keeping my silence regarding her identity. I had known of her connection to the divine since the beginning, after all."

"How come you never told us about it?" Midori asked.

"At the time, I was still new to Kivotos so I didn't know whether Aris' connection to the gods is a good or not," Sensei admitted. "While I did learn later on that she was connected to the Nameless Gods, I was still missing too many details to be sure so I didn't want to confuse any more of my students."

"And Aris is one of your students after all," Himari said with a smile as Sensei turned his attention back to the stove. "On another note, I love the smell coming from the kitchen, Sensei. I'm looking forward to it."

"But now you know that she is the Princess of the Nameless Gods, Sensei," Rio said. "Have you come across that term during your investigation?"

"I have come across clues regarding the existence of a 'Princess' and their role, I was not able to completely ascertain their identity until now. Though I did have reason to believe that Aris might have been said Princess before Decagrammaton revealed it," Sensei said as he saw Key approaching and sat on one of the free seats at the table. "In any case, we do have someone who has access to first hand information right here, don't we?

"What makes you think I'll tell you?" Key asked as she looked him straight in the eye. Eventually, she averted her gaze as she continued talking while Sensei started serving the dishes. "I am a trainee that was left behind by the nameless priest who assisted the princess with her duties. I am the key that connects her to the throne that she must inherit."

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing. Sensei took his seat across Key while Momoi, Yuzu, and Neru all got closer.

"The one you call 'Aris' is the Princess, and I am the 'Key' that will guide her to her throne. My awakening should have heralded the creation of the Atrahasis…" Rio widened her eyes in alarm at Key's words, but Key's next few words gave her pause.

"But that…aberrant…!" Key gritted her teeth in frustration. "Whatever it did damaged her unit's internal code. Your distraction of that aberrant allowed me to modify the existing code and fix the damaged parts."

"So there is no danger of Aris turning into a prophet of Decagrammaton?" Rio asked for clarification.

"Had it been allowed to continue exerting its influence, it might have succeeded. Sensei's distraction allowed for that heretic's influence to be purged in its entirety. The latest code revision would also prevent it from forcefully influencing the Princess in the future," Key said as her frustration started becoming more apparent.

Sensei, Rio, and Himari, who were aware of the bad news a Prophet of Decagrammaton brought, were relieved to hear those words.

"The issue lies after that," she said. "The damage to the code was repaired, but it also attacked the Princess' AI. At first I thought that the Princess' AI had been completely destroyed, but her recent act of temporarily retaking control proved otherwise."

"Then what is keeping the kid from retaking full control if she can do that?" Neru asked.

"When her AI was attacked, it caused an error in the code and caused the two of us to swap control over the body at a rapid pace. That constant swapping caused a memory leakage, allowing some of my knowledge regarding her purpose to become known to her."

Himari raised an eyebrow, having a suspicion as to what might have happened next.

"The constant swapping of control made it so that you made a mistake when repairing the internal code," Himari contemplated with wide eyes. "You are now the 'Princess'. And Aris is now the 'Key'."

"It is not permanent and I will eventually make the correction and return the two of us to our proper roles! If only the Princess—"

"Does that mean Aris is okay?" Momoi asked with a hopeful expression.

"The Princess is fine, but she's being incredibly stubborn and doing everything to delay the code from being fixed by refusing to take control of the unit!" Key complained as she glared at Sensei. "This is your fault for talking about how a demon—Mhmmm?!"

Key didn't notice it in her anger, but her right eye turned blue during her outburst. Her right hand grabbed the chopsticks and skillfully used it to grab a small meat and put it in her mouth. Then her right eye turned back to pink as Key reluctantly chewed on the meat before she swallowed it.

"That was Aris' way of saying she's fine just now, I think," Sensei said with a chuckle.

"...Delicious…" she said in bliss as she started eating.

Rio wasn't quite sure what to make of what just happened, while Himari, who had also been eating for a while now, smiled in understanding. "I think my cute junior is having her own battle right now."

"What are you even saying?" Rio asked.

"Try the food first and you'll understand," Himari pointed at the plate in front of her. "Seriously, what have you been eating these past two months that you never even tried Sensei's food until now?"

"I can guarantee it's great, President!" Yuuka added.

Rio was a little concerned at how the serious conversation quickly shifted to talking about the quality of the food, if rather fanatically, so she looked over her shoulder to ask Toki, only to find her bodyguard had already left her post and joined the others on eating.

Eventually, after convincing Rio that the food that Sensei cooked was in fact cooked normally and didn't have any mind altering drugs or anything strange, Rio decided to take the plunge.

Rio quickly found the notion of Sensei drugging his food silly after her first bite. Though she started suspecting that there was more to Sensei than it seemed, because the food tastes divine.

"Why thank you, Rio. I'm glad you enjoyed it," Sensei said with a smile.

"Wait, did I just…" Rio said and actually showed her embarrassment on her face contrary to her usual cold demeanor.

"Welcome to the club, President," Yuuka said as a joke.

"Sensei," Rio said, her rationality telling her that this kind of food should have been impossible to make normally. "How were you able to make this?"

"I'm surprised it's only now that someone asked that question," Sensei said as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm not entirely sure either, but somehow residents of Kivotos have a strong positive reaction to my cooking when they first eat it."

"A supernatural phenomenon, you mean," Himari said. "A question for another time."

The tension in the atmosphere had completely dissolved by then as everyone was enjoying the food.

It was then that Key—

"Everyone, can Aris ask for help?" Or rather Aris said. Everyone stopped what they were doing as they stared at Aris, indicated by her bright blue pupils. "I don't have long before Kei notices and completes the repair so I—"

"Aris?!" Momoi, Midori, Yuzu, Neru, and Sensei exclaimed.

"Are you okay?!" Yuuka quickly reached out for Aris. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"I'm okay, Yuuka! That boss' mental attack did confuse me for a while and showed me unpleasant things, but Sensei's teachings helped guide Aris back!" Aris reassured her. "I also learned about Kei thanks to that, but Aris needs to be quick though as the effects of Sensei's food buff on Kei will wear off soon. It only happens the first time after all!"

"Uhhh…" Sensei scratched his cheek. He was still confused as to why residents of Kivotos even experienced such a phenomenon with his cooking.

"Kei? You mean Key?" Momoi asked.

"Yes, Kei! Just like how you named me Aris!" Aris explained. "I want Kei to experience what it's like being a student too so Aris can finally add her to my party!"

"Wait, why—"

"Sorry, the buff is about to run out!" Aris exclaimed as her blue eyes started dimming. "I'll see you all in a—It really is delicious…Huh? The Princess was just—No, I'm too late."

"Welcome back, Kei," Himari said with a smile before Rio asked for a word outside. "Please excuse us, everyone."

Toki noticed this and decided to follow, but Rio told her to wait. "Remain on standby for now, Toki."

"'Kei'...The Princess talked to you didn't she…"Key, who was nicknamed by Aris as Kei, muttered as she glared at Sensei. "And this is because of whatever you put in that food that made it so deli—suspicious!"

"Do you want seconds?" Sensei asked.

"...Yes…"Wipe that smirk off your face. I know it only happens the first time…"

…

…

The hallway outside the GDD clubroom was completely desolate of students, with the AMAS droids blocking all passage, Rio and Himari were talking privately.

"You want me to lead the Super Phenomenon Task Force?" Himari said. "Very well, I accept."

"Moving on then," Rio said as glanced at the clubroom's door.

"The Princess of the Nameless Gods wants the Key to the throne of the Atrahasis to…experience what it's like to be a student? So she can…add her to her party?" Rio was a little unsure.

"Why yes, that's what our adorable junior said, though I'd appreciate it if you call them by their names," Himari said. "So, what do you really want?"

"I merely want to decide on our next course of action," Rio said. "If we had more time, I would have wanted to have this talk in a more secure location."

"Then why not reconvene at another time. Perhaps in a week or so?"

"Do you not understand the urgency of the situation? The Princess—"

"Is currently unable to create this Atrahasis that you are so afraid of," Himari said. "Don't think I didn't notice your reaction when Key brought it up."

"So you propose that we do nothing and risk the Princess fully awakening."

"No, I am proposing that we give Sensei a chance to do his job first," Himari said. "Based on what I've gathered on Sensei, he is—"

"Someone who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty if necessary," Rio finished Himari's sentence.

"He reminds me of you in that regard. Even now I believe he is making plans on what to do with Key," Himari said with a frown before it changed to a smile as she added, "but unlike you, he's at least willing to consider more peaceful options before resorting to extremes."

The two stared in silence for a while.

"If he really was the one who created the sword that revitalized Abydos' Oasis…" Eventually, Rio relented. "Then he's more than capable of stopping a fully awakened Princess before she completes the ark."

…

…

…

The moon was now visible in Millennium's night sky. The entire campus was illuminated by the artificial lights from streetlights and buildings still in use. This included the building that once housed Hub, now the Eight Prophet of Decagrammaton Hod.

Due to Decagrammaton being able to hack into technological devices, there were Seminar members posted in rotation to guard and observe any changes to the still offline Prophet, though the fact that it had been hacked by an entity that called itself a god was kept under wraps.

Currently, two of those guards have made themselves comfortable by listening to music while keeping an eye on Hod.

"Why couldn't we just let the drones keep an eye on Hub? Isn't that what they're for?" One of the Seminar guards asked.

"Don't know, but it's the President's orders," the other guard said. "You know how rare it is for her to actually give an order to mobilize Seminar."

"Yeah, I know. We usually receive orders from Treasurer Yuuka instead," the first guard said as she stood up. "Still, I think it'll be fine if we go grab some coffee from the nearest vending machine, right?"

"Someone's supposed to keep a constant eye here…" the second guard was reluctant.

"You coming or not?"

"Fine fine, I'm coming."

As the two made their way down the building, they didn't notice that Hub's body flashed yellow.

"Hmmm?" The second guard looked back. "Did you notice that?"

"Notice what?" The first guard looked over her shoulder.

"I could have sworn it…" The second guard looked closely at Hub's body and saw that it was still offline. "No, it's nothing. I must've been just tired."

Once the two left, Hub's body started glowing as it moved ever so slightly before its glow faded once more.