Kozuha took Scarlett and Sora Aoi to the headquarters of the Hunter Association. Meanwhile, the news of the Catastrophe being destroyed spread like wildfire across the world.
Everyone was talking about it.
Scarlett's reputation shot up to the sky in just one day. She wasn't just esteemed savior anymore, She had now become the savior of the world.
And it was a great help to her too.
Because Scarlett was also a goddess. And the more people believed in her, the stronger she could become. Their prayers and their faith would become her fuel. With enough believers, she could even unlock new flexibility in her blessings—like giving abilities to others, just like how Sylvania Yogsothoth once gave a special blessing to Arthur that let him go back in time.
Of course, that kind of huge power was still far away for her. But even so, she was getting stronger with each passing second.
Right now, Scarlett was inside the Hunter Association's headquarters, standing in a large, glass-walled meeting room on the top floor. The room had a long table, and outside the windows, the city stretched endlessly under the bright sky. Sunlight poured in, making everything look sharp and clear.
Five people were sitting at the table. All of them looked serious. Most of them were older—probably in their fifties or sixties—with wrinkles and grey hair. Their suits were neat, and they didn't smile.
Scarlett stood across from them without a hint of fear or worry. Her arms were crossed, and she looked at them calmly. In her head, she already knew who they were.
"They must be the big investors or higher-ups of the Hunter Association," she thought.
It had taken a while to get here. From the moment she entered the building, everyone had stopped to thank her. Even the janitors and cleaning staff came up to shake her hand. One after another. She didn't mind, but it had taken a lot of time.
And now… it was finally time for the serious talk.
Kozuha was also in the room, standing in one corner quietly. She hadn't said a single word since they entered, but her eyes were watching everything while Sora stayed outside.
One of the old men—he sat right in the middle—leaned forward slightly. His voice was calm, but there was something heavy in his tone.
"You may tell us your demand. But remember, you promised it would be something we can afford."
Scarlett gave a small smile. It wasn't fake. It wasn't nervous. It was mischievous.
"I'm very well aware of that," she replied, her tone playful but steady.
Then she paused for a moment and looked straight at them.
"You already know that I'm not a human."
The room went still.
"But I'm sure none of you know which race I belong to."
Her voice was calm, but those words hit the room like a cold wind.
The five men shifted slightly. One of them raised his eyebrows. Another frowned, looking unsure.
They began to think things they didn't want to say out loud.
"What if she asks for blood… or sacrifices?"
Some of them started to panic a little inside. But they didn't show it on their faces.
Technically, if she did ask for human sacrifices, it wouldn't break the deal they made with her. That rule was never written in the contract. She never promised she wouldn't ask for such things.
And with more than 8 billion people on the planet… maybe they could afford to lose a few, right?
Even if the idea made their stomachs twist.
But No one dared speak.
But then Scarlett's next sentence eased their minds yet shocked them simultaneously.
"I'm a goddess!" she said, her voice playful and light, as if she was sharing something fun instead of something shocking.
The room went completely silent.
Even Kozuha, who had seen and heard a lot of crazy things, blinked and widened her eyes slightly. "Goddess?" she muttered under her breath, surprised for a moment. But she quickly calmed down and didn't speak again, quietly going back to her composed self.
Scarlett looked at the men sitting around the table, her smile not fading even for a second.
"So, being a goddess, I need believers. That's why I want you to tell everyone in the world that I'm a real goddess. An orthodox one, not some fake or forgotten evil spirit," she said. "And anyone who wants to worship me is welcome."
She raised her hand as if she was making a friendly deal.
"Of course, I won't force anyone to worship me," she added with a gentle shrug, "but no one is allowed to make fun of or criticize those who choose to follow me. That's one of my terms."
"And also, you will start a fund. A big one!" she said, smiling brightly. "This fund will help build churches and temples dedicated to me wherever people want them. Use it to support communities who want to pray, sing, and worship. Spread my name with beauty and pride! Woohoo!"
Her face looked cheerful and innocent on the outside. But inside her heart, she was thinking something completely different.
"There are already so many gods in the world. People believe in them, but have they ever truly seen them? Most don't even know if their gods are real or not. But me? I'm right here. Alive, breathing..Well not breathing but I can breathing and not to forget powerful one. A real goddess." The thought made her laugh deep inside, her inner voice twisted with pride and amusement.
Her fun was interrupted by one of the old men at the table.
"You'll go back to your world soon, won't you?" he said, looking serious. "So what if we don't do our job properly? Or we just pretend? How will you know? How can you check?"
His voice sounded calm, but it was clear he was testing her. Maybe even warning her that they could cheat her if she wasn't careful.
Scarlett raised an eyebrow and thought, "Wow... he's really saying it out loud? He just asked if I have a way to catch them if they scam me and if not then they'll scam me shamelessly?. I like his honesty."
Then her cheerful look changed. Her gaze grew sharper, her smile vanished, and her tone dropped cold.
"You really don't know anything about the contract, do you?" she said. Her voice sent a chill through the room. "You don't understand what it means to agree to something under a contract like that. I don't even need to be here. As long as it's written in the contract, you must carry out everything I said. And not half-heartedly, either. The contract demands sincerity. If you don't follow it seriously... the punishment will be worse than anything you can imagine."
The air in the room felt heavy all of a sudden. No one dared to speak.
But inside her mind, Scarlett was a little less confident. "To be honest... I don't really know what the contract would do either. But Avion told me to never underestimate it, and I'm sure these guys shouldn't either!"
The old man who had questioned her earlier gave a fake cough, trying to ease the tension.
"Cough… cough… I was just joking. Guess my sense of humor is really terrible," he said, standing up and trying to laugh it off, though his expression clearly showed he was nervous.
As the old man stood up, ready to end the meeting, the others around the long table also stood, thinking it was over.
"Very well then—" he started to say.
But Scarlett suddenly raised her voice, stopping everyone in their tracks.
"I'm not done yet!"
Her tone wasn't loud, but it held enough weight to make the entire room fall silent. The air froze, and without even thinking, everyone quietly sat back down.
She took a small breath, then smiled again.
"Since I promised to ask only one thing, I won't make another demand," she began. "But I do have a suggestion."
She paused, letting her words sink in, then continued with a spark in her eyes.
"How about... our worlds start trading with each other?"
Gasps and surprised murmurs filled the room.
"You have powerful technology, great machines, and smart people," she said, her voice full of excitement. "But my world has magic. Deep, powerful magic science and rare resources that you've never even seen before. Things that can't be found in this world at all! We can help each other... and who knows, maybe I'll save your world again someday!" she added playfully.
One of the men, sitting near the right side of the table, raised his hand a little. He looked curious but also cautious.
"That's... a very interesting offer. But how do you plan to do it?" he asked.
Scarlett crossed her arms and tilted her head, looking confident.
"Leave that part to me. I can't do it now, of course. I'll need time to figure it out and test if it's even possible."
Her face looked calm, but inside, she was already thinking hard.
"I do have enough mana to teleport here alone anytime I want... but connecting two whole worlds?. That'll be a real pain in the ass," she thought with a blank face.
"But... if I can make it work, I won't need to depend on those selfish kingdoms in my world anymore. I can skip all the drama and just trade with Earth. That would be amazing!"
Then a sudden thought hit her like a slap.
"Wait... does this mean all the hard work I did to get DreadHaven to be accepted as human friendly Kingdom was useless?!"
But after a moment, she shook her head quickly.
"No! That was still the right move. Who knows how long this will take to work out? It's better to have allies on both sides."
Even though all these thoughts ran through her mind, in the real world, barely a second had passed.
She looked around and saw that the men were whispering to each other, probably discussing her proposal.
Scarlett didn't wait for their reply.
"Now that everything's done," she said, standing straight, "you should prepare the unsummoning ritual as soon as possible."
Her voice was firm, like someone giving clear instructions, not asking politely.
The people at the table froze. They quickly turned away from their conversations and stared at her again.
"Yes, we'll prepare it in a week—" one of them began to reply.
"Tonight," she cut him off, her tone soft but final.
"What?" the old man asked, blinking in surprise.
"I want you to do it tonight," she repeated with a calm smile.
That smile, though gentle, felt strangely commanding, like a queen giving her orders.
The old man stared at her for a moment, then slowly gulped and nodded.
"Okay," he said quietly.
"Nice," Scarlett said with a grin as she turned around, heading toward the door.
"I can just teleport back with Irish right now... but let's return properly, just like how I arrived here," she thought to herself as she opened the door and walked out of the meeting room.
Kozuha, who had been quiet the whole time, quickly followed behind her. Her face was full of questions again, and it was clear she had a thousand things she wanted to ask.