For men, the greatest pursuit is power; for women, the greatest pursuit is immortality/eternal youth.

  "When any form of power reaches its peak, it naturally moves toward immortality."

  Ren paused for a moment, then g the girls present with a slightly amused expression.

  "Didn't I mention this before?"

  "…"

  Kaguya fell silent for a moment befiving a slight nod.

  "Yes, you did."

  "At the very first club meeting, Amamiya-san brought up the topimortality."

  "You also said that the club would eventually move in that dire."

  Ren recalled saying something along those lines back then.

  "We just never ected that idea with the cept of immortality."

  After all, everyone knows that immortality and loy are fually different.

  To Kaguya, the notion of true immortality had always seemed distant, so far removed from her reality that she never gave it much thought.

  "Well, now it's time to start w toward it."

  "When any form of power reaches a certain level, it begins to reshape the body itself."

  "As lifespan increases, the natural decay that weakens the body slows down in respoo the growth of one's power until, eventually, oains immortality."

  Ren stopped here and g the group before tinuing, "And I think the one most likely to achieve immortality first is Ran."

  "Me?"

  Ran, startled by the suddeion of her name, poio herself in disbelief.

  "Yes."

  Ren nodded.

  "The body ages due to natural decay, a process rooted in the flesh itself."

  "And the power you've obtained works by transf the body from the i."

  "So, from the moment your body began its transformation, ying process started to slow down."

  "Of course, true immortality will still take a long time, but your progression will definitely outpace Sanzenin and Shinomiya."

  Ran's ability, Imperial Sakura Fang, alters her body through the nutrients she es, strengthening her power, rea speed, explosive force, and endurance while slowing the natural dee of her body.

  "Sanzenin, oher hand, has an Anemo Vision."

  "That Vision is aernal magical an that allows her to absorb external energy and vert it into Anemo power."

  "But ultimately, it remains aernal power."

  "The Vision will undoubtedly grow stronger over time, but the dire of its growth might depend heavily on the tents of the diary."

  "Until then, it's best to focus on training elemental trol with as much precision as possible."

  "After all, the God of Wind oarted with nothing but a single breath of mist."

  Elemental abilities have immense growth potential. If Sanzenin could overe the i limitations of the Vision, she might very well reach the level of a demigod one day.

  "The same goes for Miss Maria."

  "The true form of the Rock God is a thousaer-long stone dragon, once revered as a War God."

  "Your Vision is of the Geo element, power drawn from the earth itself."

  "Miss Maria, you should work hard to develop your abilities."

  "The Geo element embodies stability, structure, and resilience."

  "With it, you summon stoo crush your enemies, or create an unbreakable shield to protect yourself and others."

  "A solid, unyielding rock always gives people a sense of security."

  In Ren's eyes, Maria's role as a maid made her an ideal wielder of a Geo Vision.

  "The God of Wind…"

  Nagi could still feel the untapped potential of the power she had obtaihere was still a long road ahead.

  But this was a good start.

  If she wao see her main, growing stronger was a necessary dition.

  Of course, her greatest relian achieving that goal remaihe diary.

  "But Maria really is a good match for the god of war, huh?" Nagi said suddenly.

  Maria was momentarily speechless.

  "Please don't pair an ordinary girl like me with a title as grand as the God of War," she replied, sounding half-exasperated.

  "If anyone here fits that title, it's definitely Miss Hinagiku."

  Nagi immediately agreed, wholeheartedly.

  Hinagiku Katsura was undoubtedly a God of War in every sense.

  ---

  "Then there's Shinomiya-san," Ren said, his gaze shifting toward her.

  He left the rest unsaid, but Kaguya immediately uood.

  "I know," she responded softly. "The ultimate power of the Ice-Ice Fruit."

  The Ice-Ice Fruit had already given her siderable strength, and she had no doubts about its potential.

  Its crity and power left her with little fusion about the path ahead. However, bringing that power to its peak would require time, patience, and effort.

  "Shinomiya-san, the two weaknesses of the Ice-Ice Fruit that I mentioned before areirely unfounded," Ren expined. "But those vulnerabilities might only apply to certain stories."

  "I'm not sure if the o in the real world tains the same elements."

  "You might want to test it when the opportunity arises."

  "Yes."

  Kaguya nodded slightly, already sidering the best way to duct that experiment.

  By now, the tension that had lingered over the group had mostly dissipated.

  Ren checked the clock hanging on the wall.

  Before he k, it was already 7:23 in the evening.

  Past diime, he realized.

  "Are you all still hungry?" he asked.

  "Hungry…"

  The girls exged ghe answer was obvious: yes.

  The nausea from earlier had left them drained, and that lingeriiness in their stomachs had bee increasingly difficult to ignore.

  "Holy, I've been starving for a while now," Kaguya admitted.

  "But I don't think I eat anything just yet…"

  Ran touched her stomach with a grimace.

  "If I eat now, I'll defihrow up again," she said with plete fidence.

  The others silently nodded in agreement.

  "Mr. Amamiya, dinner is actually ready."

  Maria's voice broke the silence.

  ", though—just vegetables."

  At that moment, everyone immediately uood why. After witnessing that grotesque se earlier, the mere thought of eati was… uling.

  Ren gnced around the room before slowly standing up.

  "Then I'll go eat first," he said casually.

  "You all should try to eat something, though. It'll be a long night if you go to bed hungry."