Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach wasn't sure how long he slept, but he did know that he slept well most of the time. Occasionally, he felt restless and anxious, like trouble was brewing on the horizon. But that had to be an occupational hazard. He was done for now. The Hydra would return, but that was far in the future.

Right now, he could take it easy for a bit, travel, explore, and learn more about summoning.

That dream shattered when he managed to crack open his eyelids to see Nessa sleeping on a chair next to his bed. He raised an eyebrow. It was the same Nessa as ever, but the air around her was different.

She hadn't been fiddling her thumbs while Zach was busy trying to fix a peace and stop the Hydra. She had started keeping her hair short, and she had put on some muscle. There was a rugged atmosphere to her, even when she was sleeping.

She opened her eyes as if Zach's gaze had been enough to stir her from her sleep.

She looked at Zach, staring. Unsure of what to do with her arm, it wandered around before settling down on her lap.

"Good morning, sleepyhead?" She said in a gentle voice.

"Is it even morning?"

"No idea. My idea of time is a little twisted."

"..."

Nessa grabbed a nearby glass of water and held it out to Zach. Zach shook his head.

"I'm good." Just like he didn't need to eat, thanks to the world essence energy, he could mostly make do without water. His body was still weak and sore. But it was better than before. And it was not something a glass of water could help with.

"Okay…?"

"..."

"..."

It was the first time they were meeting in a while. It had only been a few months since Rienne arrested Zach outside the Labyrinth of Vidur, but both felt like it had been years. Time passed quickly when a lot happened.

It should have been a happy reunion, but things hung in the air between them that made it difficult to talk.

Zach eventually sighed and looked straight at Nessa.

"I can tell you weren't just slacking off. So, tell me. Where were you guys?" He asked. He had made do without their help.

But a lot of lives could have been saved if they had helped him. Many things could have gone differently. Nora…

Zach didn't even want to think about it.

Nessa nodded and took a deep breath. This was why she was here. She had to confront it head-on.

"We were in the Underworld."

Zach tilted his head in confusion. Of all places? He didn't have to say anything for Nessa to continue.

"Jigak didn't find the other end of the tunnel down there, but he did find what came from it. The tunnel goes to another continent. The people of that continent have been trying to invade us through it."

Zach's eyes almost bugged out of his head at the abrupt bombshell of information.

It wasn't a complete shock that they weren't alone in the world. But in all the books Zach had read in the Academy's library, he had never seen anything concrete about another continent or a civilization other than the one on their continent. It could be censored, though.

"Violina, Anerias, Dukiel, and I ended up dragged into it in part due to our titles.

"At first, it didn't seem like a big deal, but we, Zoe included, thought it would be best if the information didn't spread to the surface. It would be like the time Ugor tried to invade the surface, but a lot worse. We thought we could handle it."

"But you couldn't, and now you've come to me."

Nessa lowered her head. That was right.

"Since you're here, I'm sure you've talked with my familiars. I'm not sure I can help you. I'm currently pretty weak. Compared to you, I haven't made that much progress, either." Zach narrowed his eyes as he gave Nessa a closer look. His gaze shifted to the shadow at her feet.

"You have summoned your fourth familiar, right? That puts us on the same level."

Zach didn't want to think of himself as stronger or weaker than his friends. The hierarchy of their strengths shouldn't matter to their friendship. But if he had always been confident that he was the strongest, he now felt like Nessa could take him in a fight.

"That's right. We've all summoned our fourth familiars. SS-ranks the lot of them."

"Oh? Congrats!" Zach said, earnestly happy for them. He wasn't sure if it was a coincidence that his best friends were all amazing and talented summoners. But multiple summoners this powerful in one generation like this was pretty rare in the history he had read about.

Nessa could tell his feelings were honest. She sighed.

"Our fourths are the same rank as your second, Zach. Don't sell yourself short. If you're weak, what is everyone else?"

"Ah, I'm not weak. I'm weak right now," He clarified. "It's the backlash of my world essence energy. My body can't handle the full power of it yet, so whenever I end up using it, it leaves my body in a state of weakness," he explained.

"If not for that, I would flip you upside down and bite your calf," He said confidently with a firm nod as he crossed his arms.

Nessa gave him a blank look before rolling his eyes. It was good to see he was the same. She had been worried when she saw him sleep like he was dead. Contrary to what Zach thought, his familiars hadn't explained much, even if they had let her come in to his room and stay by his side.

"I am sorry, Zach," She said after a minute of silence. Regardless of the reason, she and the others had let him down in a time of need. They had been absent in a time of turmoil and grief.

No reason was good enough to pardon that. The least she could do was apologize.

"Yeah, yeah. You said this other civilization was invading, right? I happen to be pretty used to dealing with invasions."