Several months had passed after the last battle, and although there were some vibrations across the cosmos showing everyone that Ryan still was fighting Lucifer, after a while, those stopped showing the end of the battle. His allies began to think that Ryan had died. After all, more than half a year had passed since everything went silent.
His allies were worried about Femradiel because she was about to give birth and she spent this whole time completely relaxing. Well, most of the survivors began to relax while they were fixing the whole planet. The dungeons didn't disappear, and monsters still were spawning, but at that point in time, they were considered new species of the planet.
Femradiel was taking a nap while enjoying the sunlight of the early morning on a certain beach in Miami. It was a nice place that she really enjoyed since it was much different from her previous timeline. After restoring the whole region by herself, Femradiel built a house and began to lazily slept around every day while waiting for Ryan's return and her kid's birth. She was so relaxed that she snored pretty loudly, but she suddenly stopped when she felt a presence appearing.
"Hello, it has been a while," Isis greeted Femradiel with a smile.
"Yes, it has," Femradiel scratched her sleepy face. "How is everything proceeding?"
"I guess we are almost there, some of the elder gods even began to leave to other planets, those who were young were never too eager to return to Earth, after all," Isis explained. "I guess only the oldest generations see Earth like their only home."
Femradiel frowned when she heard that. Even the youngest of the elder gods were at least thousands of years old… Regardless, Earth still had plenty of room for so many people. Although many humans and some of the elder gods tried to use Reset and revive some people, their powers had limits. Even Isis and Odin could only use so much mana at a single time without damaging their bodies and spirits. Thus, going back in time for more than a month was nearly impossible.
"I know that is asked this many times, but…" Isis said while looking around. "Are you really okay waiting here?"
"You are such a worrywart," Femradiel shrugged.
Rather than that, Isis was starting to think that Femradiel was in denial. Most of the elder gods could use Foresight now and see the future ahead in a couple of days, but none of them saw Ryan returning. That is why Isis, Athena, and even Loki visited her pretty often. Loki only comes to do some pranks, but he always stays for a while as well.
"Well, come to visit us once in a while too," Isis said. "Everyone is asking for you."
"I will, once Ryan returns," Femradiel said.
Isis nodded while making a slightly complicated expression. She really had no idea what to say at times like these, even though she was so long-lived. Regardless, after that, she disappeared, and Femradiel resumed her nap.
After a couple of hours, the plane suddenly began to tremble. Those who had good senses noticed that the whole world was being covered in a new layer of mana. No… it seemed like the mana in the world was expanding by someone's control. The elder gods didn't think they would have to face another enemy that could do that kind of thing any time soon, but they prepared to fight. Although that happened near her home, too, Femradiel didn't wake up. Not even when another presence suddenly appeared around her.
"Phew… it seemed that worked," Ryan said.
"You owe me one," Merlin said.
"Let's hope I won't regret this later…" Ryan frowned. "It seemed that I also returned on time."
"You can only blame your paranoia for that," Merlin said.
"Just shut up for a second and let me enjoy this moment," Ryan said and then approached Femradiel.
She was supposed to have good senses, but she didn't even notice Ryan's return. What a letdown… Nevertheless, her belly was big, and she seemed more than healthy enough to sleep like that, so Ryan couldn't have asked for more. Still, the temperature was increasing on the beach, and even though Femradiel had the endurance of a dragon, the baby didn't. So, Ryan carried her in his arms inside the beach house. The interior of the place was quite fancy, so Ryan felt quite weird inside it.
After finding the bedroom, Ryan put Femradiel there, and then he sat while offering her a lap pillow. She stopped snoring and then began to laugh in her sleep. Eventually, Femradiel woke up, and instead of welcoming him, she began to lecture Ryan.
"You are late!" Femradiel said.
"My bad, I wasn't so sure that he had died, so I had to do some cleaning up," Ryan said. "Lucifer was a tough bastard, his flesh was sent flying to many galaxies, so before he could regenerate, I searched for those parts and destroyed his remains. After that, I began to work on something else."
"And you didn't have time to return for a minute?" Femradiel asked, still angry.
"Well, I was pretty far away…" Ryan shrugged. "And this new project required me to visit many planets. Even now, my replicas are working like crazy to finish it."
"What did you do?" Femradiel asked.
"Well, unlike someone, I figured that to prevent future problems, we will need some layers of defense," Ryan said. "That is why I am activating the mana of various planets and turning them into domains, my domains. If someone troublesome appears on those planets or even nearby them, I will know."
"You complain about me, but whom did you ask for help with that?" Merlin asked. "Your ability to develop spells is lousy, after all."
"You are still here, Merlin?" Femradiel asked.
"For the time being, yes," Merlin replied. "But my influence is over, don't worry, I am not here to impose."
"That is good… for your own good," Femradiel said.
"Yikes…" Merlin said.
"Anyway, let's visit everyone!" Femradiel said. "It is time to rub on their faces the fact that I was right, they looked at me like I was a kid who believed in Santa Claus while waiting for you."
"Well, well… they really think that I am that unreliable," Ryan said. "Not like I care, but… let's wait for a bit. You are approaching the ninth month, right? Let's take it easy for the time being in order for the delivery to be without any problems."
"Hehehe, I suppose that is fine," Femradiel said while giggling.
"So, how is everyone going?" Ryan asked while he was patting Femradiel's head.
"Well, I only heard a few things from those who visited me," Femradiel replied. "Since you skipped the work of restoring the planet. They stayed busy for almost six months. Although they fooled their allies once, Athena and Loki were mostly fine. The other elder gods apparently had no reason to hate them after losing fair and square. Loki is travelling around while causing trouble to everyone and Athena is making sure to discipline those who don't believe that they can keep their desire to use their new powers."
"That is good, I was thinking of erasing the memories regarding those powers of everyone I could," Ryan said.
"When did you become so shady?" Femradiel frowned. "… Anyway, Alissa is working alongside Fang Shi and now and then she also helps the pendragons."
"Good for her, It seems she is finally moving on with her life," Ryan said.
"Well, her and Fang Shi had a special connection, after all," Femradiel said. "In the other timeline, he had become Orgar."
"Really? That is quite shocking…" Ryan frowned. "She went to look for a way to bring back Orgar and she found his past self? How crazy is that?"
"Also, Natasha gave birth to three girls and she often asks us to visit her," Femradiel said.
"I am glad to hear that someone else also had a bit of faith in me," Ryan said.
"Actually, most of those who doubted your return were the elder gods," Femradiel said. "They were just trying not to admit that your sturboness is your greatest attribute."
"I am not sure about that…" Ryan frowned.
"Let's see what else… you missed Yahiko and Haruna's marriage," Femradiel said. "Mohammed began to travel around using dungeons to establish a good relationship with the dungeon masters since they went quiet after those battles."
"I suppose both were good things," Ryan said. "Still, Yahiko… to go after his subordinate. My image of him was different. What about the guys in South America?"
"Lucas and Gustavo's group were probably the busiest of humans, the vegetation of that part of the continent suffered a lot and they want to restore everything," Femradiel said.
"I guess growing up seeing so much green would make them miss it after a while," Ryan nodded to himself. "Still, I didn't think they were much of environmentalists. I can't see how six humans with draconic powers can speed up that process, though."
"They are having Isis and Poseidon's help, so I am sure they will soon see great results," Femradiel said.
"Isis is one thing, but Poseidon too?" Ryan frowned. "That is probably the most insane thing I have heard in all my life."
"While he isn't much of an environmentalist, he can easily turn seawater into proper water to shower the whole world," Femradiel explained. "Apparently, in exchange of that, humans promised him to stop connecting their sewers to the oceans."
While that was a good thing, Ryan didn't expect to hear that. It felt more than a bit weird… still, considering Poseidon's behavior, he normally would just trash the civilization of those who dare to dirty his oceans.
"Now, about your friends that are our closest neighbors now…" Femraidel said and then looked at Ryan.
"What?" Ryan asked.
"Aren't you going to say that they aren't your friends like usual?" Femradiel asked.
"I am past that," Ryan said. "Friends might be too much, though. Brother in arms is more than enough. We all fought to protect this planet, after all."
"That is kind of boring," Femradiel said. "Anyway, Daniel and Cole's group began to travel around in order to stop the dungeon masters who are trying to take advantage of the situation since we are shorthanded. Those guys had a lot of military friends, so they are doing a pretty good job. I didn't see a single monster in months."
"I didn't think their influence would reach this far…" Ryan said.
"Actually, I am the one responsible for keeping things in order on the East Coast," Femradiel said proudly. "I visited all the dungeon masters and I said that I would trash their worlds if they try to control the monsters and damage the world or what we rebuilt."
"Well… I never imagined that you had such tact for diplomacy," Ryan said while forcing a smile.
"You acting skills could use some work…" Femradiel said and then sighed. "As for Mia, Zoe, and Arthur, they are working together to build some sort of international school where they can teach basic things and common sense for the kids that will be born in the future. It seems that their growth speed decreased since the mana level in this planet stabilized, but most kids still are growing two times faster than before."
"Heh, school…" Ryan said.
"You wanted to become a teacher, didn't you?" Femradiel asked. "Why not help them?"
"I wanted to be a teacher, but I guess that working as a special force that will hunt down troublemakers across the cosmos suits me better," Ryan said.
"You are still planning to fight?" Femradiel asked. "Are you expecting me to raise our daughter by myself?"
"Don't worry, that was why I was setting the domains, I can attack everyone without leaving your side," Ryan explained. "Wait, are you sure it is a girl? I kind of wanted to have a boy…"
"Why?" Femradiel asked. "Girls are cuter and more obedient."
"Well, if my first kid will be a girl, then my fight will never end," Ryan said. "I will have to chase away many brats that will try to approach her. I get it! Only someone who is able to defeat me will have the chance to marry her."
"You sound so stupid saying that with a straight face…" Femradiel facepalmed.
Those two giggled, and then Merlin let out a sigh. Observing them was just too weird and made him a bit jealous since his wife was busy most of the time and treated her work very seriously.
"Well, I leave you guys alone," Merlin said. "The Ranger's Domain spell is already completely under your control, Ryan."
"Got it," Ryan said.
"Come to think of it, I never told you my real name, did I?" Merlin asked.
"Your name is Merlin," Ryan frowned.
"It isn't… how stupid can you be?" Merlin asked after sighing again. "My name is Leon and as I said, you owe me one, and I will need your help with the next project. I will return in a few years. See ya."
The sphere actually disappeared, and Ryan sighed in relief. He finally would have some privacy, but it seemed that he wouldn't stay from Merlin for long… or Leon. Ryan thought that was a really annoying name…
"That is a good name," Femradiel said. "What do you think of Lenore? Or Leonor? Leone? Leona?"
"Do you want to change his name and gender without asking him?" Ryan frowned.
"I was talking about our daughter's name…" Femradiel frowned. "Leona seems beautiful and strong… it seems like the name of a golden female paladin would have."
"Leona… Leona," Femradiel smiled while rubbing her belly.
Ryan smiled as well, seeing that. Call him crazy, but he had imagined a scene like that crossing his mind when he went to face Lucifer. That was why he said that he had a good feeling about that battle. To make that scene reality, he did his best.
"Thank you, Ryan," Femradiel said. "I love you."
"I don't dislike you either," Ryan said.
Femradiel looked at Ryan with reproachful eyes and then pinched his side. That had hurt quite a bit, but it only made Ryan smile.
"Just kidding… I love you too," Ryan said. "I love you both."
The End.
To all of you read this far... thank you.. I hope to see you all in my other books as well.