Alinea

"They cannot remember Kazehaya Sora or Maki Yuuka anymore. It is as if they didn't exist…"

Alinea had mixed feelings about this. She knew that erasing her parents' existence was inevitable and a necessary evil. It would be a big problem to explain otherwise. 

"Actually, that's only applicable to Sora. Maki Yuuka was made to die in a car crash on her return to Japan. The Makis only knew that their daughter was not able to make it back to the country." Gin sighed. "The same will be done for me in weeks' time."

Huh?

"What do you mean?" Alinea was confused, and then she remembered. "Ah…"

Gin had to ascend. He couldn't stay on Earth for long. 

"Emi is coming with me," Gin said and she nodded in understanding, and they proceeded on informing her of the arrangements that they did while she was sleeping.

Fredek was granted powers as a made god, similar to Horgall and the others. This was so he could properly do his duties as the new Ritz King. His powers would be then passed on in his bloodline so the Ritz Kingdom would not fall into decline like it did before Alistair was born. 

As for Alistair's disappearance…

All the soldiers' memories had been modified as well. Nobody knew that Perun had died and would be reborn as a mortal. All they knew was that after the Black God was defeated, the King of Heaven ascended immediately as he had been absent from the Celestial plane for more than two decades already. 

"Your friends will be staying here as well to help out Fredek for a while," Ryuu said and Alinea understood. 

Since Fredek was not of Ritz royalty, there bound to be some protests as soon as the demigods and deities left. To help the situation, Fredek needed all the powerful allies he could have and her five vassals were the best people to do the task. Not only were they strong as made gods but they were all from Ritz and knew the kingdom well. 

Besides, they couldn't follow Alinea around anymore. Their days of adventuring like free spirits were over— at least for now. She and Ryuu had to return to Japan. Even if they could stay longer than Gin, they would still need to leave. 

"You can stay for another fifty years, Ali. I will take care of everything while you're over there," Gin told her fondly but she shook her head. 

If she were her former self, she would have accepted the offer without feeling guilty. But she was no longer that carefree child. She was Perun's daughter. She would have to keep the promise she'd given to her father. She turned to Ryuu with pleading eyes and he nodded, understanding what she wanted.

"Five years," she said as she turned her attention back to her uncle. 

"Five years?" Gin was surprised and turned to Ryuu for confirmation but the Flame God only nodded. "Are you sure?" he asked Ali again who smiled.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's enough time for me to experience the human world for a bit and spend time with Aki, Chiaki, and my friends. I will just finish my business and then ascend with Ryuu," she said with a resolution before putting on a mischievous grin. 

"Besides, with my father gone, we cannot really meddle and mix amongst the human too much lest we further upset the balance— most especially me," she said with a sheepish smile and the others also couldn't help smiling with her. 

Well, Alinea was the Deity of Mischief who also happened to control the weather. Although she was Perun's daughter, she's also Czernobog's granddaughter. It was not really a good idea for her to stay long in the mortal world. Also…

"And my parents may be reincarnated at any time. I want to be somewhere I can watch over them even if I cannot do anything to aid them," she said. 

Gin looked thoughtful for a while before nodding. With that, the issue of their stay in the mortal world was settled. 

"How about you Ivan?" Alinea asked. "Are you returning to Kres?"

The emperor shook his head. "I will go back to Tokyo with you to claim my bride," he announced and Ali blinked several times as if she didn't understand. 

"Excuse me?" Which bride was he talking about? 

"I'm going to pick my Rin,"Ivan said with a grin and Ali couldn't help but whistle. 

"Do Mikhail and Andrej know you're going with us?"Alinea prompted with a curious look. 

Unlike other royalties who killed each other to usurp power and position, the siblings of the Kres royal family were the polar opposite. They fought about who would be stuck as emperor. It seemed all of them had other interests and didn't want to stay in the palace. Ivan, the current emperor would rather go on quests, and the youngest, Andrej was an introvert. Only the middle brother, Mikhail was somewhat alright— well, he's a workaholic but he preferred to be an adviser than the emperor. 

The only reason why Ivan was able to follow his wanderl.u.s.t was because of Perun. Alistair's identity was known to Mikhail and Andrej so they let their brother be the King's volunteer gopher in years. But things were different now. Alistair or Perun was gone. Ivan no longer had an excuse to shirk his duty. 

"I will only go there to pick up my bride. As soon as I convince Rin, I'll have to go back and take over," Ivan said with a defeated look and Ali sighed. 

She was torn between laughing and sympathizing with him. She just hoped Rin wouldn't give him a hard time. Nonetheless, regardless Ivan would be successful in convincing Rin or not, it was a story only for the two people involved to write. 

"My Lord, are we not going to involve ourselves in the brewing war?" Fredek asked and Gin shook his head. 

"You can only be on guard— to make sure that it will not affect Ritz. As a new king or a new dynasty, you cannot blindly involve yourself in conflict with other countries," Gin warned and Fredek didn't look appeased but nodded his agreement.

"What war are you talking about?"Alinea had just thought about the possibility of war earlier when she woke up. She didn't know that one was already happening. 

"Dhahliah and Cilan…"