"Asheraska?"
"Yes. It has been a while, Garnalava."
The woman who had suddenly appeared was, evidently, the Earth God. She gave Garna a brief nod before turning her attention toward me.
"So, you are the one who saved my servant. You have my thanks."
"No, it was nothing."
The "servant" she was referring to was obviously Zeubros. I understood that she was thanking me for purging the silver abomination from him, but I couldn't help but wonder why she had left him to suffer for so long. Zeubros had said his connection to the Earth God had been severed. If that were the case, she should have noticed something was wrong.
Garna voiced the very question weighing on my mind.
"Asheraska, were you truly unaware of what had befallen Zeubros?"
"That is the thing. From my perspective, my connection to that child remained intact. I might have noticed the truth had I made an effort to call out to him, but..."
"Hmm... I see. As long as it remains in a latent state, it seems the infection can even mimic a divine connection."
Mimicry, huh? Even while eroding an Apostle, it could hide its presence from a god as long as it stayed dormant. That was a terrifying thought.
"I see. That explains that," Garna said. "Now, what did you mean by your earlier remark?"
"Ah, right. You intend to rearrange this dungeon, do you not? I shall lend you my strength."
It seemed the Earth God had appeared not only to offer her gratitude but specifically to assist with the dungeon's remodeling.
"I had originally intended to grant you a divine protection as a reward, but..."
Every member of our party was already an Apostle of either the Destiny God or the Spirit God. Since the rules of the gods strictly forbade granting multiple protections to a single human, the Earth God had been at a loss for how to repay us. Thus, when the need for another deity's power arose for the dungeon's reconstruction, she saw it as a timely opportunity to offer her cooperation.
"What say you, Tort?" Garna asked, leaving the decision to me.
She likely deferred to me because we had originally planned to ask Ren-kun for help.
"Well, if that's the case, I’d be glad to have the help."
"Wonderful. Leave it to me."
The Earth God readily agreed, and Garna gave a satisfied nod. With this, the dungeon's rearrangement should be possible.
But wait, I thought. There's no rule saying only one god can help, right? In fact, if Ren-kun lent a hand too, couldn't we make an even more incredible dungeon?
Just as that thought crossed my mind, several more gods suddenly descended from the heavens.
"Yes, yes! As expected of Ruto! There's no way you could leave me out of this!"
"Hey, Asheraska! No stealing a march on us!"
"Oh? If it isn't Lamuyadas and Rulaina."
"I am here as well."
"Asterion... even you have come?"
The newcomers were Ren-kun, the Luck God, and the Spirit God. It was a full house of every deity I knew.
"Young Master, more god-like people just fell out of the sky."
"Indeed. Truly the hallmark of a B-Rank adventurer."
"No, this is a very special case. I'm sure you realize that, right?"
"Yeah, don't worry. I'm just busy escaping from reality."
Over to the side, Lowell, Badis, and the others were whispering back and forth like a comedy duo. They claimed to be retreating into denial, and honestly, I couldn't blame them. It wasn't every day that five separate gods gathered inside a single dungeon.
"Uh, Ren-kun. What's going on here?"
"Hm? Well, you were thinking, 'If only Ruto would lend his strength too,' right? I just used that as an excuse to intervene. I mean, come on. There's no way I’m passing up the chance to stick my nose into something this interesting."
When I pressed him for his intentions, Ren-kun gave me a surprisingly blunt answer. I glanced at Badis and the others, wondering if it was okay to talk like this in front of them, but they were still busy with their "reality-denying" banter. Given the wry smile on Lowell’s face, they were probably just pretending not to hear.
Regardless, they clearly intended to stay out of the gods' business, so I decided to keep the conversation moving.
"What exactly do you find 'interesting'?"
"The dungeon-making, of course!" the Luck God chirped, pushing Ren-kun aside. "We rarely get the chance to exert our power outside our own specific domains, you see. Naturally, the idea of building a dungeon piques our interest."
Ren-kun gave the Luck God a flat look for stealing his explanation, but since their reasons were the same, he didn't bother to argue.
"The Spirit God too?" I asked.
"It is true that I am interested. However, I am here primarily to act as a balance adjuster."
"A balance adjuster?"
"Indeed."
The Spirit God explained that if Garna tried to interfere with the dungeon in her current state, she would be heavily influenced by the gods assisting her. Ren-kun and the Luck God had very similar roles, presiding over destiny and luck. If she relied solely on their influence, the dungeon would likely become far too dependent on luck-based mechanics.
While that sounded fun in its own way, it didn't fit our current goals.
We wanted this dungeon to be a resource that would bring prosperity to Albiroda. More importantly, we wanted a training ground where people could learn to fight the silver abominations. For that, we needed stable, consistent results that weren't dictated by the whims of fortune.
By having the Spirit God join the process, they could minimize the dungeon's reliance on luck. Since that made perfect sense, I was more than happy to accept their assistance.