[Nightmare]

"Helix's goal is to remind people of who they used to be." Marie explained.

"Hmmm? Why?" Atlas asked while turning to Helix.

"Why? I've accepted that convincing otakus to act like decent human beings is like asking bears to eat salad." Helix sighed.

After a moment of stunned silence, the group erupted into laughter.

"He's still being modest." Marie giggled.

Atlas turned his attention to her.

"There's no incentive to be a good human being here.

The Earthians will have to fight powerful people exerting their dominance.

And for what?

A world where they don't have to be afraid?

To be a decent human being?" She reasoned.

"If people remember why they were excited to come here, they'll be willing to fight for that world.

They'll resent the people who take them away from their fantasies and dreams."

Atlas' eyes widened.

"That's actually… quite amazing. You're promoting group solidarity."

Helix chuckled bitterly.

"Yeah. I wish it didn't require a caravan, Machiavellian tactics, and hard work to get people to be decent." He sighed.

—

Everyone was wearing celebratory smiles, and many who were previously crying were hugging their friends.

"Thank you, everyone. Now, who wants gifts?"

A moment of stunned silence.

A few whispers of confirmation.

A boom of applause, screams, and chaos.

Deafening cheers exploded from the arena and could be heard from half a mile away.

Helix laughed and gave them all a pathetic smile.

"I'm glad you're excited. It makes this all worth it." He chuckled.

"Everyone gets five playing cards, a ticket to an exclusive auction, and a packet of Star Sparkles to carbonate your beverages."

Cheers exploded in the arena.

"I'll be handing these out in a second.

The cards have been shuffled.

If you have duplicates—trade them." Helix suggested with a slight smile.

He purposely stacked the decks so that people [had] to trade to get unique cards.

It was a good game to get going.

People started whispering amongst themselves.

"Oh! I forgot. If you obtain five unique starter cards without money, I'll give you a sixth from the uncommon cards.

Of course, there are three rare cards in there as well." He muttered in fake contemplation.

"So if you want an advantage, you'll have to meet the Knights from Thyme and vice versa."

Nervousness started taking root.

"It's easy to meet people when everyone wants to do the same thing you do.

So even if you don't want friends, I assure you [everyone] will be begging to talk to you."

Murmurs similar to [wait, he's right] started spreading through the crowd.

The excitement started blooming, and the weebs looked at the otakus and vice versa.

—

"And still it won't be enough." Helix chuckled bitterly.

"Hmmm? Cat ears alone should do the trick." Atlas laughed.

"Should. But unfortunately, there's one glaring issue." Helix sighed.

"To obtain group solidarity, people need to talk to one another." Charlotte laughed.

Atlas burst into laughter.

"Oh boy. We're screwed."

Helix gave him a wry smile and a nod.

"Luckily, Hellie has a solution for that too~"

—

"My partners will hand out the gift bags.

Their names are Marie, Charlotte, and Riley." Helix announced with a warm smile.

Everyone looked at the three beautiful women with sparkling eyes.

"Get to know them. Marie is a leader who will be helping develop a new protection system.

You can copy it in Thyme." He continued.

"Riley is your new best friend. She's so kind and easy to talk to, and you can approach her for anything.

Charlotte will be the head of protection.

If you think I'm strong, these women are cheat characters with broken stats.

I assure you, they can crush any problem you face faster than I can."

Everyone looked at the three women with wide eyes.

The weebs couldn't believe that [Helix] was weaker than anyone.

The otakus were curious about their strength now that Helix had shown his.

"There is something you should know about these three.

When I say they're my partners, I mean girlfriends."

The power-weebs were shocked.

The super-otakus wore wry smiles.

Marie, Charlotte, and Riley were legendary fairies, and everyone was jealous.

"Please respect their love for me." Helix announced.

"I almost died when two people smashed in my rib cage on the second day in Myriad."

The shock in the power-weebs was palpable.

They looked at the super-otakus, which had gloomy expressions.

"Then I was blackmailed into a deathmatch when I was Level 1.

Finally, someone killed my lover and ran a sword through my back.

All assassination attempts happened within thirty days."

The atmosphere's pressure multiplied, and nervous whispers passed through the groups.

"The common denominator was that these women loved me.

I almost died because of jealousy and needed to fake my death to ensure people didn't kill me.

Yet our relationships survived those attempts, and these women journeyed one thousand miles to join me.

I trained for eighteen-hours a day with grandmasters and fought countless monsters to obtain the strength to protect them.

They joined me in my training to be able to protect me.

That way, we would never suffer through another assassination attempt.

That's love.

My partners aren't an abstract fantasy harem; these three love me as much as I love them.

We've earned our relationship, so please respect it."

A single clap started from the super-otakus.

Then another.

And another.

A slow clap developed, and soon everyone in the stadium was applauding.

"Thank you. I appreciate you all." Helix said with a bow.

The young women bowed with beautiful smiles on their faces.

Thunderous applause rocked the arena.

—

"I'm cringing just thinking about this, but… how are you going to deal with your relationship?" Atlas asked.

"Strike fear into the hearts of any would-be assassin?"

"Not exactly. I'll start with a guilt trip, move to a love story, and end it with an implicit threat of force." Helix chuckled.

"That way, I can publicly shame the person I crush later."

"Trans~lation. I'm going to approach it in a way that makes the first demonstration as devastating as possible." Charlotte announced.

"Hah. Is that your real motive?" Atlas chuckled.

"Of course." Helix replied with a slight smile.

—

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Helix Hellsgate Margrave.

These women's names are Marie Skybolt, Charlotte Kline, and Riley Singer.

As your new leaders and protectors, we welcome you to Alzeria.

Let's fight to protect humanity, have fun, and work hard to make this magical world the beautiful place it was meant to be."

After three minutes of neverending applause, the women passed out the gift bags and greeted everyone.

It was a joyous occasion for many, and more than half of the otakus were grateful their Fairies had returned.

—

"Hmmm. Your strategy sounds great if your peaceful mock battle demonstration works." Atlas commented.

"But what if people attack you before that?"

Helix gave him a slight smile.

"Good ol' fashion violence should do the trick."

—

[A/N: Four chapter mass release for the new review I got. This story doesn't get much traffic, so I appreciate the support!]