Let the Show Begin

Rovey looked up and saw her bright smile in the dappled sunlight.

Merry gave Rovey a thumbs-up and said with a smile, "Don't worry, we're here for you!"

"Two Magus of Flowers and one god-like being—with such a luxurious lineup, what problem can't they solve?!"

"Merry ..."

"Haha, have you finally fallen in love with me? How about we delve deeper into the physiological differences between humans and half- Nightmare? And not just in dreams, but in reality? Actually, I'd love to have a child to keep me company, maybe that will awaken my maternal instincts~"

As always, Merry revealed her true colors and teased Rovey.

"... You're more important than being a mother. I think you should learn how to be a decent human being first. And the thought of having a child with you is just too much of a challenge for my mental capacity..." Rovey couldn't help but complain.

"Hey, hey, hey! This is too much! Don't you even think about who caused me to look like this? That old man Gem forced me to test five or six different looks for him, including some incredibly embarrassing True Magic girl battle suits. Fine... I'll leave those things at that for now."

After a pause, Merry's expression turned serious again as she looked at Rovey and said, "Instead of you wandering around aimlessly here, why don't you go find Gilgamesh first? He might have a better and more appropriate solution. Anyway, let's go back to Uruk together. And even if you want to save Tiamat, you'll need someone to hold off Kingu, Gorgon, and the Demon God Pillars, right?"

Upon hearing this, Rovey hesitated for a moment before nodding. "I understand."

Rovey decided to go to Uruk with Merry and Merlin first.

At the same time, after meeting Merry, he did not forget to ask Merry, who has the ability to Clairvoyance, about the location and safety of Artoria and the others.

To this, Merry patted her chest and answered with great confidence.

"It's alright. Apart from your little Egypt lover not being able to find her location, the other two Lily are perfectly safe. It's just that their locations are too far from us, and it's a bit inconvenient. We'll go out and pick them up once we get back to Uruk and adjust our positions."

Hearing Merry's reply and knowing that they were safe, Rovey secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

While in the Imaginary Space, he couldn't get out, and because of Tiamat, he couldn't leave. Although he was worried about them, there was nothing he could do. Only after hearing what Merry said did he relax a little.

However, Nitocris is still missing, which means that she may be in a place that even Clairvoyance cannot see, or even not in this world.

Since Merry's Clairvoyance couldn't see it, he would have to borrow Gilgamesh's even stronger Clairvoyance to help him. In other words, he had another reason to go to Uruk.

However, just as Rovey was about to set off, Merlin suddenly spoke up.

"Wait a minute. Instead of going straight back to Uruk, I plan to find another important helper along the way."

"A helper?" Rovey asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Is it that child?!" Merry immediately realized which helper Merlin was referring to.

"That's right, she's indispensable if we want to defeat Gorgon."

As he spoke, a sinister smile appeared on Merlin's face.

Shortly after the group traveled to Uruk.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!"

The two who had just escaped from Mount Ebih were also panting heavily, clutching their chests, and celebrating that they had survived the fully-powered Black Lancer Artoria and the berserk Ishtar.

This shocking battle of gods completely terrified Ibaraki-dōji, who was initially quite resentful and had been looking for an opportunity to betray them. However, after witnessing Ishtar and Black Lancer Artoria's ability to alter the terrain, she exclaimed inwardly that they were far more formidable than Minamoto no Raikō. Thus, without even the slightest thought of resistance, she followed Lev and jumped off the mountain peak while they were distracted, then ran all the way here.

Although she knew perfectly well that Lev wasn't a good person, after experiencing the two subjugation processes of rebelling and being slapped against the wall by Lev, Ibaraki-dōji was completely convinced.

Lev said, "Although I can't beat a god, can't I handle you? How dare a mere country bumpkin defy the Magic King's demon god?"

He then forcibly formed a contract with Ibaraki-dōji, turning her into his errand boy and taking her on Mesopotamian Plain. Ibaraki-dōji couldn't understand why this Demon God Pillars wasn't thinking about destroying humanity; what was he searching for in this wasteland? Was he looking for food?

When asked this question, Lev simply replied, "Superficial!"

Ibaraki: "..."

Then they continued walking across the wasteland, leaving all the Demonic Beast along the way to Ibaraki-dōji, his underling, to fight. Lev, like a bloodhound, kept searching the air for that coveted scent.

Finally--

"I sensed it, Your Majesty, they left this place not long ago!"

Lev lifted his hat up a little and spread his hands out without caring what Ibaraki-dōji thought.

To Ibaraki-dōji surprise, nine Gilgamesh rings suddenly appeared in Lev's raised hand. Even as a demon who knew little about Magecraft and sorcery, she could tell that these rings were not merely noble ornaments. In fact, these golden rings felt even more terrifying to her than the gourd that Shuten-dōji often carried.

"Hmph... The time has come. As long as I return these rings to the King, and then find a way to help him eliminate Tiamat and repair the Singularity, the King will definitely praise me and acknowledge me! Goetia, you traitor, you'd better just disappear obediently. Anyway, you're just a Singularity created by our fusion!!"

"I, Flauros, am the most loyal subject under the throne!!"

Chapter 232 Please Begin Your Performance

"Ah~ this beautiful young lady, are you lonely all by yourself? Would you like Magus of Flowers like me, loved by all, to keep you company?"

"Stay away from me, I don't know you."

The voices of a man and a girl echoed through the woods.

"Oh dear, you may not know big brother, but big brother knows you."

Girl: "???"

"So... what does this have to do with me?"

The purple-haired girl wearing a hood looked at the white-haired perverted man who had suddenly approached her with a lewd smile, and at the same time, she couldn't help but think seriously.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure out when she had met him, why he knew her, or whether he even knew her at all—what did it have to do with her? These were all strange questions.

If she hadn't confirmed that the pervert had no murderous intent, and that the human following behind him was the same person she had rescued in the cedar forest two days ago, she probably would have already swung her scythe and taught Merlin a lesson.

"There's definitely a connection. As the saying goes, at home you rely on your parents, but when you're out in the world you rely on your friends. So how could we not have a connection with them?"

"—?!"

The purple-haired girl looked at him strangely, then remained silent for a moment before asking, "Do we know each other?"

"I don't know him!"

Have we met before?

"Never seen it before."

"Then why..."

"Haha, even though we never met in life, it's still a kind of fate to meet again after death, isn't it?"

Merlin stroked his chin, then smiled and replied seriously, "Besides, I'm determined to be a friend to women, so of course I can't allow a cute and legal little girl like you to run around outside. So, please—go date me!!"

While vividly describing the scene, Merlin produced a red rose from somewhere and handed it to the girl he had only met five minutes earlier, boldly declaring that it would last at least three years.

Seeing this, both Rovey and the purple-haired girl in front of him felt their eyelids twitch wildly.

Especially Rovey, who thought he knew enough about the bottom line of Merlin and Merry, and roughly understood where their bottom line was, but now it seems that he was still too shallow.

These two guys still have an unfathomable depth of decency...

Confessing one's feelings after only five minutes of meeting someone is incredibly outrageous, even in the grand scheme of Human History, especially when the guy does it with such a carefree, grinning expression.

Was this an attempt to make her blush, so—they used a handsome man tactic?!

However--

"Get out of my way!"

After being repeatedly provoked by Merlin, the purple-haired girl realized that ordinary methods were ineffective against this freak. She stopped being polite to Merlin and her scythe flashed through the air at lightning speed, leaving a purple arc. Accompanied by the flying of a few strands of white hair, Merlin, whose hair had been shaved off, knelt down on the ground and screamed while clutching his bald head.

"Oh dear! Big brother's beautiful hair! You all died so tragically! Without you, how can I comfort those women who need care!?"

"That's so embarrassing."

Rovey turned his head away, pretending not to recognize the guy.

He felt ashamed enough just living in the same world as Merlin, while Merry pointed at his receding hairline and laughed. Clearly, she was delighted to see another version of herself suffer.

Come to think of it, she noticed it too.

Since becoming a woman, it seems that even her luck has improved. Perhaps it's the reserve of women that has changed her behavior. She no longer actively seeks to cause trouble or do silly things like Merlin in front of her. At most, she enjoys seeing others amuse themselves by doing silly things.

"What a bizarre guy."

Ignoring Merlin, who was lying on the ground imitating Lin Daiyu burying flowers and busy burying his own hair, the purple-haired girl put away her scythe, glanced at Rovey, and said coldly, "Cherish your life, human. I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, the purple-haired girl turned to leave, ignoring Merlin standing to the side.

"Please wait a moment." Rovey called out to her from behind, and said very sincerely, "Thank you for your help with what happened before."

"What a foolish thank you. I didn't help humans like you; I just happened to run into someone I needed to defeat," the purple-haired girl said in a low voice.

He started acting all proud and arrogant as soon as he opened his mouth.

Hasn't this personality type already disappeared from the scene?

Of course, Rovey didn't say these words aloud. In response to the purple-haired girl's words, Rovey simply expressed his sincere gratitude to her, saying, "No matter what you think, the fact that you helped me will not change."

"Anyway, thank you very much for your help. May I ask your name?"

Rovey pressed for the name of the purple-haired girl.

Because his memory was somewhat distant, he only remembered that the girl had a deep connection with Medusa, but she wasn't addressed Medusa, so he took the initiative to ask her about it.

There's no reason for me to tell you my name; it wouldn't do you any good. Goodbye, human—no, goodbye forever.

Faced with Rovey's thanks, the purple-haired girl who was about to leave looked slightly surprised, or rather, uncomfortable. To her, being thanked by a human was too strange, so she prepared to leave immediately.

However, just as the purple-haired girl turned to leave, Merry, who had been watching, suddenly stepped forward with great speed and firmly grabbed the purple-haired girl's wrist.

"What do you want to do, Nightmare?"

The purple-haired girl immediately turned around, looking warily at the smirking Merry, her scythe already pointed at her.

"Don't get agitated, don't shave my head. I'm not like that pervert. I have something to say to you."

What are you trying to say?

"Actually, I think if you want to achieve your goal, you should come with us," Merry replied with a smile.

"Why?"

The purple-haired girl's eyes were filled with suspicion.

"Come now, look into my sincere eyes, and I will tell you the pros and cons..."

Merry pulled the purple-haired girl in front of her into the bushes next door, then her eyes gleamed with a strange light as she began to whisper to each other.

Watching Merry and the purple-haired girl walk away, Rovey glanced at Merlin, who was busy burying his hair, and said, "Get up. This pointless self-performance and self-entertainment probably won't work anymore, will it? Trying to grab attention has lost its meaning; it just makes you look stupid..."

"Oh dear, so it didn't bring any joy after all? I thought my performance would at least make someone laugh, it was absolutely terrible..."

Merlin stood up again, and said somewhat helplessly, "Is it because my performance wasn't good enough?"

"That's not the reason."

Rovey shook his head and said, "It's like how a clown can please the audience, but he can't please himself, right?"

"Uh, you really don't hold back when you talk, but you're absolutely right. Compared to my other self, I'm just a clown stuck in the middle right now."

Merlin is in a state where he can understand some emotions, but he cannot truly experience or feel them.

That's why he tries his best to do things that seem silly but might bring him pleasure, and he also wants to get answers from Rovey.

Merlin clenched his fist, but the answer was related to his experiences, and Rovey couldn't provide it; he would have to find it himself.

"Actually, the answer is quite simple, because..."

"What?"

Merlin's expression was somewhat unnatural.

"You are not human after all."

[A critical hit!]

At that moment, Merlin's expression suddenly froze for a moment, looking unnatural.

However, Rovey didn't say anything, but just patted him on the shoulder and said, "When you're willing to come down from the stands and participate in the story, instead of just being a bystander, you might understand."

"Coming down from the stands..." Merlin began to mutter to himself.

The two communicated very quickly.

Just then, a refreshed and energetic Merry emerged slowly from the depths of the forest, accompanied by a disgruntled purple-haired girl. Smiling, she announced, "I have some good news to share—"

"Now, please give a warm welcome to Miss Anna as she joins our team. She will be working with us from now on."