For the Primary Gods still far from reaching the level of "Supreme God," the authority of a Supreme God held immense allure.
Especially when that Supreme God authority was none other than the Solar Core Sovereignty.
All gods understood the importance of the Sun. At the very least, it was deeply tied to the earliest mythologies; at the highest level, it was linked to all of humanity.
Even just humanity's devotion to the Sun generated enough terrifying "faith" to rapidly expand the strength of an entire pantheon.
Among Supreme God authorities, the Sun ranked near the top—perhaps even on par with a First-tier Supreme God.
At that moment, none of the Primary Gods spoke. The entire chat group fell into a cold silence.
In a Mondstadt tavern, Venti continued to guzzle down alcohol, as if trying to use wine to cool the fire in his chest. Though his gaze was hazy, it was incredibly clear within.
"Solar Core Sovereignty…"
He believed it was only a matter of time before he became a Supreme God, but as the highest god of the Mondstadt Pantheon, he had to think for the sake of the pantheon.
Having one Supreme God and having two Supreme Gods in a pantheon—those were vastly different things.
"I have to give it a shot, even the secondary authorities—I need as many as I can get."
In the Golden House of Liyue, Zhongli stopped using his authority to mint Mora. His gaze was deep and contemplative.
"Solar Sovereignty… if this weren't done through a Gift Game, and was instead a war of gods, it would surely bring stars crashing and worlds collapsing."
"Even within the rules, it will still be brutal."
For those Primary Gods who knew they had no chance of ascending to First-tier Primary God, the Solar Sovereignty was a one-step shortcut to the top—they would risk everything.
"Though I have no desire to compete for the Core Sovereignty, for the sake of the Liyue Pantheon, I will give it my all."
"I'll claim as many of the secondary authorities as I can."
In the Opera Epiclese of Fontaine, Focalors took a deep breath while watching a stage play.
"In Fontaine, we have two First-tier Primary Gods. Even if we don't obtain the Core Sovereignty, we must at least secure multiple secondary sovereignties."
At the Grand Narukami Shrine in Inazuma, Raiden Ei and Raiden Makoto paused mid-sword lesson.
The two sisters exchanged a glance and immediately understood what the other was thinking.
In the Zapolyarny Palace, Tsaritsa gripped her hands tightly. This was an opportunity like no other—a chance to rapidly catch up to the rest of the Seven.
She knew she had no hope of fighting for the Core Sovereignty, but she would do everything she could to earn more Solar Sovereignty.
On Mount Olympus, the Four Primordial Gods of Olympus shared their opinions back and forth.
"Aside from Solar Sovereignty, there's also Lunar Sovereignty. Especially the Ecliptic Authority under Solar's secondary authorities—it's crucially tied to Olympus. We must secure it!"
"Isn't that obvious? Even the weakest Solar Sovereignty—we can't let it slip through our fingers."
In the Norse Pantheon, Odin sent the news through the pantheon's system, and the gods were already going mad.
With the exception of the Biblical Pantheon, all the major pantheons were practically aflame.
They were desperate for the Solar Sovereignty Gift Game to begin immediately.
...
In the seas near Inazuma—
A cotton cloud floated in the endless blue sky. Noah lay with his hands behind his head, basking in comfort.
"Heh~ Dropping the Solar Sovereignty bomb really did stir up a cosmic tsunami. But who will it ultimately go to? I'm curious myself."
"Still, the Solar Sovereignty Gift Game won't begin until the second phase is completed."
All authorities within the universe would eventually be distributed via Gift Games.
Of course, this didn't mean he was giving them up. The entire Teyvat Universe was his—how could he lose anything?
He was simply distributing usage rights. As long as he didn't retract them, the gods ruling those authorities would be no different from true wielders.
"Hmm, no need to wait any longer. I'll upload the fifteen world coordinates to the Cosmic Nexus right now."
As Noah spoke, with a single thought, the world coordinates and keys to open the "World Gates" were simultaneously distributed.
From now on, unless they were targeting worlds with power levels rivaling Teyvat, there would be no need to convene the highest gods of each pantheon.
As for regular Plane Worlds, those didn't require meetings. The Primary Gods of each pantheon could decide for themselves.
After all, even a Third-tier Primary God now wielded power comparable to planetary-level destruction.
Let alone the low-tech, magicless "slice of life worlds"—those could be resolved by minor gods with barely a snap of their fingers.
He would personally handle "Re:Creators" and "Re:Zero"—the former due to its uniqueness, and the latter… well, because he wanted to enjoy the game himself. And, of course, he was particularly interested in a few of the girls in that world.
...
Bzzz!
The Primary Gods still in heated discussion over the Solar Sovereignty froze, instantly turning their attention to the new announcement on the Cosmic Nexus. A shimmering roulette wheel appeared before their eyes.
The data transmitted to their divine senses made everything instantly clear.
[Barbatos: Ahhh, I haven't even finished processing the last round of excitement, and now we've got new world missions.]
[Morax: Barbatos, if you're dissatisfied, how about giving your world coordinate to me? I'll handle the conquest. We can split the merit fifty-fifty.]
[Raiden Makoto: Barbatos, hand it over to me. I'll only take 30%, you keep 70%.]
[Tsaritsa: Give it to me—I'll just take 20%.]
[Focalors: Hey, hey! What's all this? Barbatos, hand it to me, I'm not greedy. I only want 10%.]
[Nyx: Half a percent! I only want half a percent!]
[Lumine: I'll take 1%.]
[Odin: I'll take just one-thousandth.]
[Barbatos: ...Hey! Enough already. Do you all take me for a fool? You think you can just split it? These worlds are assigned by the Cosmic Nexus!]
[Lumine: Tch! Spin the wheel, I'm going first! First come, first served! Each world has a different level—if someone else spins a high-tier world, I'll cry!]
[Traveler Pantheon has obtained: Magicless, Low-tech, Standard Earth World — Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions.]
[Lumine: ?!!]
[Focalors: Pfft… 'Ordinary…']
[Lumine: Aaaahhh! Are you kidding me?! Why did I get an ordinary world?! I protest! Why aren't the world tiers labeled?!]
[Fontaine Pantheon has obtained: Mid-tier, Superpowered, Earth World — Charlotte.]
[Focalors: Mid-tier, superpowered Earth world! That means it has beings comparable to god-like authority holders?!]
[Lumine: Why?! How is this fair?! What is even going on here?!]
And before she could finish ranting, the other pantheons began drawing worlds—each result pushing Lumine closer to a full-on breakdown.
[Mondstadt Pantheon has received: Low-magic Plane World — The Familiar of Zero.]
[Inazuma Pantheon has received: Low-magic Plane World — Dororo.]
[Olympus Pantheon has received: Magicless, Low-tech, Earth World — A Lull in the Sea.]
[Liyue Pantheon has received: High-magic, High-tech World — The God of High School.]
[Norse Pantheon has received: Magicless, Low-tech, Earth World — My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU.]
[Sumeru Pantheon has received: Magicless, Low-tech Earth World — Eromanga Sensei.]
[Snezhnaya Pantheon has received: Mid-magic Earth World — In/Spectre.]
[Biblical Pantheon has received: Mid-magic Earth World — Mieruko-chan.]
[The world of Campione! is designated as a top-tier planetary-scale plane-type world and includes all known pantheons and deities. This world coordinate is open to all pantheons.]
The pantheons who didn't receive world assignments sighed in relief. After all, the number of available worlds was limited. Not getting a draw this time could've been seen as extremely unlucky.
Fortunately, a shared conquest world had been added—and not just any world, but one of the highest tier.
The pantheons who did receive worlds quickly logged off—naturally, they needed to get started and complete their conquests to earn merit.
...
Inside the Divine Ship traveling through the "Human History" time-space—
Lumine was lying on the carpet, clutching her head in anguish, rolling back and forth. "Aaaaah! Out of all the mundane worlds, I was the first to spin the wheel! Statistically, the chance of getting an ordinary one was so low! Why did it have to be me?!"
Rias squatted down and gently consoled her. "Lady Lumine, this is just how luck works sometimes. There's nothing you can do."
Sona Sitri nodded. "That's right. Still, even an ordinary world can yield a decent amount of merit points."
Akeno Himejima added with a smile, "Yes. Even a standard Earth world will grant enough merit for an ordinary person to ascend to Middle God status. For a Middle God, it's enough to reach Upper God level."
Lumine groaned. "That may be true, but compared to the other pantheons, the difference is huge! A high-magic world can generate multiple Upper Gods—and if they're lucky, even promote one to a Primary God."
Alice sighed. "Lumine, your luck really is tragic. Next time you pull a gacha or spin a wheel, you must wash your hands first. Otherwise, it's always hard pity at ninety pulls."
Lumine glared at her palm. "Next time, I'll scrub them hard."
Valkyrie Rossweisse tried to comfort her: "It's not that bad, my lord."
Asia timidly added, "Yes, please don't be discouraged, Lord Lumine."
Saeko Busujima nodded. "We're not as ambitious. Please don't feel pressured. Most of us are already gods—or are well on the way to becoming gods."
Kisara Tendo followed up: "We've already gained eternal life by becoming gods. Becoming stronger gods can happen slowly. If it takes a hundred years, fine. If not, a thousand. And if not that, then ten thousand—we'll get to Upper God eventually."
Akame nodded in agreement.
Lumine pouted. "Can you all have some ambition? If you can become strong in one leap, who'd want to grind for thousands of years?!"
"Alright, complaining won't change anything. This time, let's focus on helping Rias, Rossweisse, Sona, Akeno, and Koneko ascend to godhood. Even an ordinary world should be enough for all of them to reach Lower God level."
While it was possible to raise one person directly to Middle God, the biggest concern for any team was not scarcity—it was inequality.
A little less was fine, but everyone had to get something.
Everyone who hadn't ascended yet looked on with heated anticipation.
"Alright! Let's head to the otherworld now!"
Lumine tossed the golden key into the air.
It emitted a soft, golden glow.
A golden gate appeared before them—ordinary-sized, just like any other door.
The "World Gate" could freely change its size, but there simply wasn't enough room inside the Divine Ship to expand it into a giant gate.
Lumine turned to Rias. "Rias, you lead the team. If you need power, I'll grant you divine strength."
"Hehe, in such a mundane world, with my Second-tier Primary God power, I could suppress everything with just a finger. Go ahead and shine."
Rias blinked and her expression turned serious. Demonic wings unfurled behind her. "Don't worry, Lumine. Even if it's a normal world, it's still Earth. It's steeped in mythology—especially Biblical lore. For us devils, that's our specialty."
Lumine clapped. "Let's move out!"
Rias nodded and stepped through the World Gate, followed by the other quasi-gods.
...
Elsewhere—
Yuuta Togashi was feeling exasperated. He thought entering high school would finally let him put his "chuunibyou" black history behind him.
To give his middle school persona a proper farewell, he decided to do one last chuunibyou act in private.
Unfortunately, he got caught. Worse still, the person who caught him was a massive chuunibyou—and his classmate.
She immediately took him as a kindred spirit and somehow roped him into joining some bizarre "Chuunibyou Magic Society" club.
Now he was stuck as a member, and if this kept up, he'd suffer another social death like in middle school.
He had to come up with a plan…
As he opened the clubroom door, the scene before him left him speechless.
The floor was covered in chalk-drawn circles and stars, lined with white string. Second-year student Touka Takanashi was fast asleep on top of the drawings, clutching a pillow.
"Hey! What the heck are you all doing?! What's all this on the floor?!"
Blonde twin-tailed Sanae Dekomori lifted her chin, radiating both pride and disdain as she said in classic chuunibyou tone, "Don't you even know what a magic circle is, fool? Death!"
Yuuta ground his teeth. "I know what a magic circle is! But why are you scribbling all over the floor?! It's a pain to clean up!"
Rikka Takanashi, wearing sunglasses to appear mysterious, replied solemnly, "I said during class—we're holding a demonic ritual."
Dekomori pointed at Touka and the cat in her arms. "The living sacrifice is ready, Death! Kekeke~"
"Hey! Stop messing around! Don't bring stray cats into the classroom!"
Rikka spoke with full confidence. "This magic society was founded to uncover the unseen horizon. A chimera is essential."
Dekomori excitedly urged her. "Master! Use this sacrifice to summon the newcomer already!"
Rikka, feigning a stoic and mysterious air, replied, "Understood." She crouched and placed her hand on the magic circle.
She removed her sunglasses and began chanting:
"In the name of the Tyrant's Eye, I summon thee."
"Thy title: Slayer from the Abyss."
"Thy blood, thy flesh, thy bone—all formless."
"Answer my call…"
Wooooom—
Before Rikka could even finish her chant, the entire classroom erupted in radiant golden light.
Before anyone could react, a grand golden gate of divine brilliance materialized in the air above the magic circle.
Click—
Yuuta Togashi's face twisted, his eyes bulging from their sockets.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!"
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