They also saw this as an opportunity to observe her interaction with those who had not emerged from the former Paradise dimension and were seeing her for the first time.
At the same time, they were curious about the White Flame ascension, wondering if it would truly be as successful as claimed. After all, creating true gods through Orion's freakishly absurd seed was not the same as forcefully raising people to divinity.
Still, they suppressed the doubts in their hearts. Orion had continued to surprise them time and time again, so they couldn't help but look forward to what was to come.
While this was happening, the same thing was occurring across Paradise—from the nymphs, Pixies, and Four-Eared Elves to the Succubi, Dragnims, Incubi, Aarakocra, Fox, and countless other races.
At the same time, Orion wandered through these various domains, searching among the countless races for individuals worthy of becoming his contracted servants.
Because once the technique was perfected, anyone bound to him as a servant was guaranteed to ascend to true godhood. He decided to keep this method a closely guarded secret, known only to himself and a select few, as a countermeasure to safeguard Paradise.
Meanwhile, Orion's wives were evaluating the women Reynold and Oberon had prepared and sent for review, judging which among them were suitable to become Orion's partners.
His wives had also begun reconstructing their divine crests to create divine apostles from the knowledge they had acquired from Aerialia and Ilse. As true goddesses, their crests held the potential to elevate an apostle's strength to astronomical levels, enough to challenge divine beings right below true godhood.
Raising a divine apostle to the level of a true god was a feat even ancient gods struggled with. However, Orion believed it was possible for them, given time. Though they did not possess his Divine Archetype, he had left remnants of the White Flame within their Iyria hearts and cores.
Still, all of this would take time, from a century to a millennium, before significant progress could be made. Only he could create true gods within Paradise in such a short span.
Orion, Evaline, Whisperswing, and Seraphina stood within a sterile, enclosed white chamber. They gazed through a thick transparent wall into a cell on the other side, where a woman was shackled with chains connected to the ceiling and floor.
She had short white bobbed hair and wore a form-fitting matte black bodysuit.
HX-09 frowned, recognising the faces of those who had interrogated her eight months ago. She instantly sensed that something was off just by looking at them, especially the Pixie, now standing at the same height as the others.
Still, she couldn't identify what exactly was wrong or what had happened outside since she was last brought in. She could only tell how long she had been confined here through her internal clock.
She had told the truth then; her memories had been wiped the moment she was captured. If they had returned to squeeze more information from her, they were bound to be disappointed.
Nonetheless, she remained cautious, especially since another machina was still in their possession and in far worse condition than she was.
"I've already told you everything I know. If you're here to kill me, just get it over with," HX-09 said, glaring at them.
Orion shook his head. "We're not here to interrogate you again. We're here to set both of you free."
He extended his hand forward, and from his personal dimensional space, another machina was brought out—a woman with tightly braided, raven-black hair cascading to her mid-back, dark caramel skin, and dressed in a similar matte black bodysuit.
Orion had two main dimensional spaces: his personal space and a secondary one for the Orion household. Even newly ascended divine beings had access to a personal dimensional space, which, while vast, remained limited.
However, a true god's dimensional space was nearly the size of an entire cosmic structure. Though it was currently an empty void filled with some items, in time, it could double or even exceed its current size.
The woman had remained unconscious ever since Aerialia defeated her, showing no signs of awakening. Despite Orion's repeated efforts to revive her, he had been unable to restore her consciousness.
This led him to briefly consider that she might truly be dead, but something told him otherwise.
If anything, it only deepened his belief that the Divine Corps possessed the power to repel even a true god. Left with few options, he had decided to return her to HX-09 and observe what would happen next.
The moment the machina appeared in his grasp, HX-09's chains rattled as she trembled in shock and disbelief, processing Orion's words and staring wide-eyed at the machina before her.
The thick, transparent glass wall vanished into thin air as though it had never existed.
Orion casually tossed the unconscious machina forward in her direction.
HX-09 instinctively reached out her hands to catch the incoming body.
The machina landed hard on the tiled floor with a thud, rolling slightly before coming to a stop at HX-09's feet.
Her hands were still frozen mid-air, having missed her. But her gaze wasn't fixed on the fallen machina; it was locked on her own hands.
Her eyes widened further in confusion.
She looked down at her legs, then up at the ceiling, and finally turned to examine the walls around her. The chains had vanished. She was no longer bound.
"You can have this. I believe it will make your journey smoother," Orion said calmly.
The next moment, a mechanical halo materialised and landed gently on the floor in front of her.
HX-09 turned her gaze to the mechanical halo. Her expression grew more exaggerated as she stared at both it and the machina beside her. Her eyes flickered between the halo, the unconscious machina, and then toward Orion and the others.
A deep frown formed on HX-09's face as if she were trying to detect the catch in what sounded like an impossible offer.
"You're letting me go?" HX-09 asked, her voice tinged with suspicion and exhaustion.
"Yes. I am," Orion replied with a nod. "We no longer have any use for you. And from the looks of it, even if we wanted to, we couldn't uncover anything else. You've answered our questions truthfully. Keeping you here any longer would be more of a liability than an advantage. So we've decided to let you go."
"This is a trap," HX-09 said flatly, narrowing her eyes. "If you're planning to follow me back to my base, I can assure you, there's no need for such a scheme. I can give you the coordinates to the nearest base. You can go and find it yourself."
Orion shook his head in response. "We are already aware of the nearest location. You are free to leave. But if you choose not to, then you will be executed immediately to prevent any future problems within our territory," he said calmly.
HX-09 stared at them for several seconds, trying to detect any falsehood in their words. Though she was no longer bound, her power hadn't yet returned, likely due to the strange restrictions placed within the room, designed as a countermeasure to suppress her.
Now that she could see them clearly without any obstructions, she couldn't help but sense that the auras they carried were even more mysterious and overwhelming than before.
She swiftly shook off the thoughts clouding her mind and bent down to examine the machina lying before her.
Her brows furrowed into a deeper frown before she sighed in relief and lifted the machina, slinging her gently over her shoulder. Then she placed her hand against the mechanical halo resting on the ground in front of her.
It vibrated and hummed loudly before lighting up with brilliant streams of light that pulsed across its surface.
The halo levitated into the air and hovered behind her. A surge of unknown energy seemed to flood into her being. HX-09's eyes briefly flashed with radiant light, her body tensing before relaxing.
Then, with the mechanical halo rotating rapidly behind her, releasing mechanical whirs and hums, she ascended into the air.
Orion observed the entire process with narrowed eyes. From the moment the mechanical halo activated, he sensed a mysterious connection forming between it and HX-09, and it undid the suppression effect of the room.
He also felt a unique energy surge within her just as she rose into the air. The unique energy swiftly vanished, dissolving into the atmosphere as if it had never been there.
Evaline, Whisperwing, and Seraphina's expressions tightened slightly, showing they had sensed it too.
A beam of concentrated energy suddenly shot out from the mechanical halo behind HX-09, hurtling toward Orion.
Sensing the attack long before it was released, Orion didn't move. He observed as it approached. But just before it could reach him, the beam vanished entirely.
If one looked closely, they would have noticed a thin, invisible barrier surrounding him.
This barrier was not summoned by him. It was a natural manifestation of Orion's omnipotence.