Alex calmly explained to the girls how to properly activate the portal using the ring in order to appear next to him. They listened attentively—everyone clearly understood that Alex had many more worlds ahead of him. And no one knew whether those worlds would be safe… or just as devastated and dangerous as their own.

As soon as the explanation ended, the girls suddenly stood up from the table and, without saying a word, all left the dining room together. Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise, watching them go, unsure of what they were up to. The answer came quickly.

A portal burst open right next to him, and with a loud pop, Shizuka flew out of it—crashing straight into Alex and clinging to him. He immediately noticed that her eyes were tightly shut, as if she was afraid she’d be torn apart. Smiling, Alex gently ran his hand through her hair, soothing her.

Feeling his touch, Shizuka slowly opened one eye, then the other, looked around, and realized—it had worked! She beamed with joy, kissed Alex on the lips, and with a cheerful laugh ran back through the still-shimmering portal.

Alex just watched her go, then exchanged a confused glance with Anya sitting next to him—they both tilted their heads to the side in perfect sync.

The next portal opened more gracefully. Yuriko stepped out with poise, gave the room a quick, evaluating look, nodded, and without saying a word disappeared again. Alex didn’t even have time to say anything.

Then came Red and White. Unlike the others, they didn’t step out—instead, they remained at the portal’s edge, scanning the area, gathering data like living sensors. Alex observed them with a soft smile. He knew: despite their efforts to imitate the other girls, Red and White were still androids. For them, data collection was a natural and essential instinct. Yes, the soul of their creator had long begun to awaken within them… but their curiosity still had technical roots.

To Alex, their behavior looked almost adorable—like a child asking, “Why is the sky blue?” or “How do people in Australia not fall off the Earth if they’re upside down?”

As he watched this parade unfold, a growing certainty settled in his gut—perhaps adding the portal function to the rings wasn’t his smartest idea. But now that it was done, there was no going back.

With a cup of coffee in hand, he sat and observed as one by one the girls continued to “test” the new feature. Portals opened and closed, sometimes with a bang, sometimes silently. Alex was about to remark that this wasn’t exactly a necessary check—but he knew full well they wouldn’t listen anyway.

The last was Namiyo. Appearing with a light, almost feline grace, she sat down beside Alex and gently kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you… for such a beautiful gift.”

Alex smiled warmly. He knew that to all of them, these rings were more than just jewelry. They were a symbol. A promise. A connection he wanted to preserve with each of them, even if he one day ended up on the far edge of the universe.

Once the greetings were over, Alex and Namiyo began cleaning up the dishes the girls had left in their rush to test the new feature. Working in sync, they quickly finished. Then, putting everything back in its place, they returned to the living room, where the others had already gathered.

The girls sat admiring the rings on their fingers. Some leaned toward each other, chatting and laughing. The atmosphere was light and joyful.

Alex glanced over at Shino—though clearly embarrassed, she had still put on the ring. Their eyes met. And, unable to hold back, Shino suddenly grabbed a candy from the table and threw it at Alex.

He caught it mid-air, smirked, and silently popped it into his mouth.

“Alex,” Saya spoke up, examining her ring, “what else can this ring do? Knowing you, I bet portals aren’t the only feature.”

Alex chuckled.”Well, to be honest… there’s quite a few functions. For example, each ring now comes with its own personal inventory.”

“Wait a second,” Revy cut in, suddenly sitting upright. “Are you seriously telling me I can pull stuff out of thin air like some kind of magician?”

Alex nodded. That was all it took—the girls’ eyes lit up with fiery enthusiasm. He didn’t even get the chance to continue before they were already testing out the inventory function embedded in their rings. With an expression of lazy amusement, Alex watched as his beloveds took turns putting items in and pulling them out with childlike delight.

The experiments quickly descended into absurdity when Koko somehow managed to store the entire couch the others were sitting on. With a dull thud, the girls hit the wooden floor and stared at Koko in pure irritation, while she just offered an apologetic shrug.

As the others continued testing their rings, Alex took the opportunity to start explaining the other features built into the jewelry. The girls listened only half-heartedly, still distracted by their new “toys”—but when Alex mentioned the defensive capabilities, they suddenly froze, staring at him in shock.

“Wait a minute,” Sherry muttered with a frown. “I didn’t quite get that. Protection from a supernova explosion—that sounds cool, I guess. But protection from time? How does that even work?”

“Yeah, I’m confused too,” Claire chimed in, nodding in agreement. “How can you defend against… time?”

Alex replied calmly,

“Time is complicated. But if you’ve seen any time-travel movies, you know this: when a character travels to the past, they can encounter a version of themselves. That means you exist at every point along your timeline until your death.”

“Alex, can you explain that like a normal person?” Revy groaned. “We’re not academics, and none of that made sense.”

Alex smirked.

“Alright. Simply put, the ring will protect you if some idiot decides to go back in time and try to kill you before we ever met. There are beings out there that twist timelines and play with them like toys.”

“Wait, but if you’re also in the past… wouldn’t you protect us then?” Kiriko asked, narrowing her eyes.

“It’s not that simple with me,” Alex replied. “I only exist here and now. There’s no past or future version of me. No time variant. Because there can only be one of me.”

“So if we went back just five minutes… you wouldn’t be there?” Saya asked, trying to process it.

Alex nodded.

Saya gave a thoughtful hum and nodded back. The rest of the girls looked as if question marks were floating above their heads. Seeing this, Saya sighed and explained everything in simpler terms. After that, the pieces finally fell into place for everyone.

At that moment, the workshop door burst open, and out stumbled GIR, MIMI, and Stitch—all covered in grease and something that looked suspiciously like motor oil. They looked like they’d been working nonstop for three days without sleep. A couple minutes later, the trio reappeared from the kitchen, arms full of snacks and drinks, and went straight back into the workshop without acknowledging anyone.

“What the hell was that…” Cammy muttered. “Alex, why do they look like mechanics from a low-budget soap opera?”

“They’re modifying a giant robot,” Alex said with a grin.

“Wait… a giant robot?” Nobuna repeated, her eyes lighting up. “You mean a real, honest-to-god giant robot?”

Alex only smiled mysteriously and said nothing. That was all it took.

Revy, as if on cue, took off first, and the rest of the girls followed—some with shrieks, others with screams, one even flipping over the back of the couch—as they all charged toward the workshop. Even the calmest of them couldn’t resist the temptation.

Alex sighed, stood up from the couch, and as he passed by, silently prayed that Becca wouldn’t notice the missing weapon from her workbench.

Upon entering the workshop, he was immediately met with loud, excited exclamations. The girls were gathered at the base of a massive mechanical titan, gazing up at it with pure awe. Alex walked closer and looked up as well.

Atop the scaffolding near the robot’s head sat GIR, MIMI, and Stitch, completely exhausted—like real workers after a long shift—lazily chewing on sandwiches and holding their favorite mugs in the other paw.

Alex couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

The girls turned at the sound of his laughter. He simply pointed upward. They all looked in unison… and started laughing too. The sight of the trio sitting like worn-out construction workers, one paw holding a sandwich, the other resting on a knee, staring into the void… it was too ridiculously funny.

Alex squinted at Becca, who was already halfway up the giant mech like a deranged gremlin. He immediately rushed after her, dragging the stubborn girl back down before she could reach a dangerous height. He wasn’t worried about her falling—what worried him more was her curious hands getting into something critical.

Pulling the protesting Becca aside, Alex started to explain.

“I… gave your weapon to Slayer. He took it apart—he needed the components to upgrade his gear.”

Just as he expected, Becca exploded like a mini-nuclear reactor. Her eyes flared with murderous intent as she set her sights on hunting Slayer down and beating him to death with a wrench.

Alex had to calm his wife down on the spot, swearing up and down with promises. When he finally made the last of his concessions, Becca suddenly went quiet, looked him dead in the eye, and then grinned like a gremlin before shaking his hand. Her eyes sparkled with excitement—the offer Alex made was just too tempting to resist.

Alex let out a heavy sigh—the price of appeasing his weapon-obsessed wife had been steep. He’d just promised to give her one of the most destructive weapons in his entire collection.

“Alex, do you think they’ll finish modifying the mech by tomorrow?” Rika asked, walking up to him once Becca had finally calmed down.

“They will. Tomorrow is the deciding day for this world. Humanity will need everything it’s got to stand a chance.”

“But will there be enough people?” Rei took his hand. “I’m scared to even imagine how many demons are gathered in Raccoon City—and what’s waiting for us there…”

“That’s why I reached out for help… to those who might still hear the call,” Alex said, tightening his grip on her hand.

“To whom exactly? Who could possibly reinforce us in a fight against a demon army numbering in the millions?” Rekka asked, her expression thoughtful.

“I sent a message to all remaining Night Sentinels. The ones who still remember their oath, who are in hiding… but haven’t given up. I’m hoping they’ll hear the call and come.”

“Are you sure?” Alcina interjected, eyeing him intently. “You said yourself their world fell. They were betrayed by their own people. Will they really want to join another war for someone else’s world?”

“Agent D’nur fell, yes. But it still exists. There are survivors among the Night Sentinels. I think they’ll want to repay the demons… Even if they don’t come—Doomguy and I will handle as much as we can. I’ll use magic, draw as much attention as possible. No matter how hard it gets—we’ll manage. And after that… a damn vacation. With food. And a ton of booze,” Alex said, raising his fist into the air.

“Sounds like a plan. Kick demon ass and head off on vacation? I’m in,” Ada said, clapping her hands.

The girls eagerly agreed, a fiery determination lighting up in their eyes. They couldn’t wait for it all to be over, to finally begin a new chapter. Alex was waiting for that moment too—he was tired of endless battles.

He reminded them that tomorrow morning they would head to the military base, where Chris and the other Resistance commanders were preparing for the final battle. The girls nodded seriously and went off to get ready.

Wasting no time, Alex distributed newly improved weapons to them—far more powerful and efficient than the previous ones. In his eyes, weapons needed to be lethal, especially before a decisive battle. The girls beamed with excitement as they received their new gear.

Rory didn’t need anything new—her apostle’s scythe, filled with the power of destruction, was more than enough.

While the girls checked out the new equipment, Alex stepped out of the house and headed for the settlement gates. Once beyond the perimeter, he lit a cigarette and, exhaling the smoke, gazed up at the sky where lazy clouds drifted by.

His thoughts turned to the battle ahead. He knew it wouldn’t come without sacrifice. Every war had its price. This world had already suffered too much. Almost everything was destroyed. And all because of the Minister of Monoliths…

“I see you’re back on your feet,” came a voice from the side.

Alex turned. Ghost was standing there—as always, so quiet he might as well have grown out of the shadows.

“Hey, Simon… You don’t get it,” Alex chuckled. “A daughter’s love is the best medicine.”

“I don’t think that’s how medicine works,” Ghost replied with a blank stare. “And who was that guy you dragged in yesterday? He’s the one who messed you up?”

“Honestly? He’s a demon hunter from another universe. We had a bit of a disagreement… and ended up trashing the Titan in the process. Right now he’s sitting in my workshop upgrading his gear,” Alex said casually, taking another drag.

Ghost continued watching him with that calm, empty gaze, trying to figure out whether Alex was joking or being serious. But Alex’s face showed no sign of irony—it remained completely composed. That meant either he was telling the truth… or lying so convincingly it was easier to believe him.

“Let’s say that’s true,” Ghost finally said. “Why bring him here?”

“You surprise me, Simon. I didn’t think you’d take it so well. I was actually planning to explain everything tonight, but… why not now? Tomorrow in Raccoon City, the final battle begins. All the key players are already there—the one who started the zombie apocalypse, the one behind the Red Markers, and the one commanding the demons. In short, everyone’s taken their place. The final act is just hours away. Tomorrow will decide whether this world falls… or if we all get a proper ending,” Alex said, glancing back up at the sky.

“So the moment’s finally here,” Ghost nodded. “Tomorrow, it ends. Whether we live or die… it’ll be decided then.”

“Strange. I thought you’d ask more questions. Usually people ask who I am and how I know all this,” Alex said, looking at Ghost.

“I don’t like prying into other people’s secrets. I’ve got enough of my own,” Ghost replied, shaking his head.

“If you say so, friend. But if you want to see something truly amazing, come with me. I promise—you’ll like it.”

Ghost raised an eyebrow, studying Alex. The latter just smirked and walked up to the stone wall that surrounded the settlement. Without a word, he placed his hand on the surface—and under his palm, strange symbols began to glow. Alex started walking slowly along the wall, his fingers tracing the stone as lines of unknown markings followed in his wake.

Intrigued, Ghost followed. He studied the runes closely, trying to determine what language it was, but quickly realized—he’d never seen anything like it. In truth, they were magical runes in an ancient language known only to a few.

After circling the entire perimeter of the wall, Alex returned to the gate and slapped his palm against the final section. The runes lit up with a soft glow before fading into the stone. It wasn’t just decorative—Alex was setting up protection. He wasn’t ruling out the possibility that Davaot or the Minister of Monoliths might strike at the settlement to distract him. But now, thanks to the runes, no one would be able to breach the perimeter while he was out on the battlefield.

Finished, he turned to Ghost, who had silently watched the whole process.

“So? What do you think?” Alex asked with a smile. “Curious about what I was doing?”

“If you want to tell me, go ahead. If not, that’s fine too. Like I said, I don’t poke around asking questions,” Ghost replied calmly.

“Is that so…? You’re provoking me now. Fine then. I placed protective runes around the settlement. If those two—responsible for the destruction of this world—decide to play dirty, they won’t be able to hit us from behind.”

“Those two? You mentioned one was tied to the Markers, and the other to the demons. Who are they?”

“I guess you could call them gods… at least in terms of power. But that’s a long story. Just think of them as evil deities that my new acquaintance and I will have to deal with,” Alex said, scratching his chin.

Ghost nodded. However insane all of this sounded, he took it in stride—he’d seen some wild things in his own life.

Alex decided to change the subject and asked where Ghost had been heading.

“Checking traps. Might’ve caught something,” Ghost answered shortly.

“Then I’ll keep you company.”

They walked together, checking the traps in complete silence. Neither was in the mood to talk—both lost in thought. In one of the traps, they indeed found prey. Taking the catch with them, they made their way back toward the settlement.

On the way, they ran into Daryl, who was carrying a few rabbits he had caught. Alex waved at him, inviting him to join them. Daryl nodded and fell in step without a word. The return trip passed quietly as well.

Back at the settlement, Alex dropped the catch off at the storage room and asked Ghost to let the others know there’d be an important meeting that evening. After saying goodbye, he headed home.

At home, Alex immediately entered the workshop. Looking around, he realized the girls were gone—likely out in the field testing their new weapons. Even Shizuka had received her own personal weapon, though Alex still wasn’t sure it had been a good idea to arm someone so clumsy.

Passing by the training ground, he didn’t see Slayer, which surprised him a bit. Further along, he finally spotted him—working on the Atlant Mech alongside GIR, MIMI, and Stitch. Together, they were tinkering with a massive cannon mounted on the mech’s back.

Thanks to Vega being linked directly to his suit, Slayer was receiving real-time data and could fully contribute to the upgrades. Alex stepped closer, watching them work on disassembling the weapon.

“Slayer, just so you know… tomorrow we move out. This is your chance to get revenge on Davaot,” Alex said.

“Hmm,” Slayer grunted, nodding without looking up from his work.

Having passed the message along, Alex glanced at GIR, MIMI, and Stitch again. Upon hearing that the battle would take place tomorrow, they instantly understood—time was running out. They needed to finish the Atlant Mech’s armament upgrades immediately. It was like someone had pumped them full of caffeine: all three began darting around the workshop, working at double speed, scrambling and rushing to get everything done.

Smirking at their frantic energy, Alex turned to his own workstation to finish the new modules for the combat suits. His mind was occupied with the upcoming battle, while his hands continued the work on their own. He was so focused that he didn’t even notice the sun had set—until Shino appeared and gently tapped him on the shoulder, pulling him out of his deep concentration.

Turning to her, Alex smiled and opened his arms, curious if she would let him hug her when no one else was around. Shino rolled her eyes but still stepped closer and allowed herself a few seconds of tenderness. Alex gently hugged her waist and pressed his forehead against her chest.

“Alright, enough hugging me. I was just asked to call you for dinner. You’ve been sitting here all night and all day,” Shino said softly, pushing him away.

Alex laughed and stood up from his chair. Taking Shino’s hand, they left the workshop together. Entering the dining room, Alex realized everyone was just waiting for him. He sat down at the table and began eating, watching as the girls behaved surprisingly relaxed. They understood that with the protection he had placed on their rings, almost nothing could threaten them.

Meanwhile, GIR, MIMI, and Stitch barely finished eating before rushing back to the workshop—the Atlant Mech upgrades were still unfinished, and time was running out fast. Fortunately, Alex’s workshop was well stocked with materials and tools to get the job done.

After finishing dinner, Alex told the girls he needed to speak with the others. It was his duty to explain to the people what they were getting involved in. Brunhilda wanted to come with him to help, but Alex politely declined, promising he could handle it alone. The girls didn’t insist—they knew Alex could ignite fighting spirit and confidence in people.

Smiling, he left the house and headed toward the place where all the fighters were supposed to gather. He was right — from a distance, he could already see a large group of people assembled in an open area. They were all those who had traveled half the world with him, fought beside him in every hell encountered on the way to this refuge.

As he approached, he felt all eyes focus on him.

“So, why have you gathered us all, Alex?” Hayato was the first to speak, folding his arms across his chest.

“No long introductions. Tomorrow the Resistance plans to storm Raccoon City to put an end to this nightmare once and for all. You already know who’s behind it all: the Evil Corporation that started the apocalypse, the Red Markers, and one idiot who opened the gates to demons for power and control. I’ve gathered you to find out who’s ready to take part in this full-scale offensive, and who wants to stay behind.”

“So tomorrow it all ends?” Price asked, lighting his cigar. “How sure are you?”

“One hundred percent. The problem isn’t the assault itself, but what awaits us in the city,” Alex said, lighting his own cigarette.

“And what exactly awaits us there?” Balalaika asked, studying him closely.

“To avoid scaring anyone, I’ll put it this way: there’s something very dangerous in the city. It’s now my concern — and that of my new partner. We’re here to figure out who’s with us. If anyone decides not to go — I understand. No judgment.”

“You say it like we’re cowards. We’ve been through all this with you, fought on the Korean border against a million-strong demon army, survived Tokyo, Okinawa, China. We’re not the ones who run away,” R said irritably.

“That’s exactly why I’m asking. We’ve been through a lot. Each of us carries a path filled with pain, loss, and hope. I don’t want to drag anyone to their death. I want those who choose to go to do so of their own free will,” Alex said with a faint smile.

“If you say tomorrow it ends, then I’m in. Damn it, we’ll kick those demons’ asses and show them this is our world, and we’re not giving it up without a fight,” Soap said, grinning broadly.

Almost everyone echoed those words. Flames of determination sparked in their eyes. If there was even the slightest chance of victory — they would fight to the last breath.

Alex smiled, hearing the approving shouts. He knew this battle would be the last. Once everyone calmed down, he explained the details of tomorrow’s operation and warned that the deployment would begin at dawn. Everyone had to be at full combat readiness.

People began to disperse. Hayato nodded goodbye to Alex and left as well. Alex stayed where he was, waiting for everyone to leave, and only then headed back home to the girls.

To be continued…

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep