Chapter 367

Whether mockingly or simply thinking it made sense, Li Pu said, "It seems the Holy Grail has summoned some strange people."

"However, it seems that you split into multiple people because of the Holy Grail War," Li Pu said with a light laugh. "But at the same time, they are all one person. Is this the legendary law of the unity of opposites?"

"False God." Assassin looked at Li Pu in the sky and said without any respect, "False God, we have come by the command of our Lord."

"While I have no intention of disturbing you, I also don't want my mission to be disrupted."

'Green...' Li Pu thought to himself, not intending to reprimand anyone. This was a monotheistic religion. Apart from their own god, all others were false gods. That's why they called it that...

"Whatever their reason for coming," Li Pu said, "This is the reception you proposed in Iskandar, so it's up to you to decide who these people are."

"Or perhaps Gilgamesh will have to deal with it."

"Hahaha~" Upon hearing Li Pu's words, Iskandar smashed the wine barrel with a punch. He scooped up a ladle of wine and said, "A king should have the demeanor of a king! I welcome all who come to listen to the king's words."

"Come! Assassin, this drink is made with your blood!"

When Rider raised his glass high, just as in history, all that responded to him was the cold edge of a blade and mockery.

Li Pu watched all of this, knowing that the first minor peak of this work was about to arrive.

Rider's regal aura and domineering presence!

Those who followed Rider in his campaigns against the illustrious Heroic Spirit!

At this moment, it will soon descend upon the earth once more.

'The Army of the King'

It's coming!

Chapter Twenty-Nine: I Can Too

Rider's kingly and domineering ways are that the king is the leader, the king's will is the will of everyone, and the king's wish is the wish of everyone.

Therefore, the king led everyone.

A simple explanation would be: 'Mei is my wife.' 'Me too!' 'Since we share the same ideal, then I am your king. From today onwards, if I marry Mei, then you marry Mei. I'm going to...'

That's roughly the idea, but in reality, the relationship between the king and his subjects is not that simple.

A subject does not become a subject because of the king's wishes; the relationship between the king and his subjects is more complex and better illustrates the unity of opposites.

However, it seems to have become even simpler now.

All you need to do is say 'Me too'.

When Rider declared his kingly way to Saber, he demonstrated his domineering nature to Saber through his actions.

The moment the Army of the King was unleashed, it certainly looked incredibly imposing, instantly terrifying the Assassins who had been pulled into Army of the King and causing them to lose their fighting spirit. Meanwhile, Li Pu, who had been floating in the sky, was still preparing to continue watching the show.

'I think we can give it a try.' Gaia, the angel inside her, suddenly spoke.

"Try? Try what?" Li Pu was caught off guard by Gaia's sudden words. Try? What is that?

"We can handle the same situation with that Heroic Spirit called 'Hundred Faces,'" Gaia said, "If we have this Inherent Domain as support."

"Huh?" Li Pu asked, a little confused but now even more interested, "We can too? You are Gaia, separated from my body as an independent entity?"

"I'm not talking about myself, little Goddess," Gaia said. "My situation is already very similar to that of [Hundred Faces]. I'm talking about others: Mei, Soul of the Underworld, Li Pu, Cecilia, and others."

"Oh?" Li Pu's eyes lit up immediately. "You mean the others? Can we separate them?"

'And also, why is there an extra me?'

Wait a minute, if they were separated, shouldn't there be another Belldandy? Could it be that Belldandy has been categorized under "others"?

"Because this role is no longer a role," Gaia said. "My dear Goddess, haven't you figured it out yet? You are this Goddess, you can be the Goddess of Fate named Belldandy, or you can be the Battle Goddess named Vivian. But neither of them will make you the first-level, second-type, non-limited-wishes Goddess."

'As for Li Pu, you can think of him as you. Only with a slight switch: you become the Goddess, and he becomes the character.'

"Or perhaps it's not so much a character as another version of yourself, or you could consider it an existence somewhere between the character and yourself," Gaia explained. "The Goddess of destiny has become you, and the role she vacated needed to be filled by a new character, so you naturally filled that role. However, because this role belongs to Belldandy and its attributes are different from your original self, you haven't completely filled that role yet."

"Well, the Goddess hasn't completely become you yet. This is the current situation," Gaia said after a moment's thought. "It's roughly that the Goddess and you each occupy half of the essence, and each take on half of the role. You can think of it as you within me, and me within you— the Goddess, Li Pu, and me, a trinity. The Goddess and Li Pu can transform into each other and can temporarily separate using Inherent Domain."

Hmm, it's complicated, and I don't quite understand it.

But even though I've become Goddess, I still exist, and I can still be myself, which put Li Pu at ease.

The battle between Rider and Assassin ended with Rider's complete victory. Although the trump card had been revealed, it was definitely an unexpected gain for Li Pu! With the angel's affirmation, she left before Rider and floated to the very top of the castle.

The lightning rod standing on the highest watchtower.

"Gaia, how do we deploy Inherent Domain?" Li Pu asked immediately, almost not wanting to wait any longer.

"So eager?" Gaia asked, somewhat surprised. "Aren't you going to wait a bit?"

"No, I want to try it now." Li Pu said impatiently, "What conditions are needed to activate Inherent Domain? Is it Magecraft? Or spells?"

"I've already cracked the Magecraft part," Gaia said. "However, the conditions for activating Inherent Domain are simple, but also extremely demanding. If these conditions aren't met, the Inherent Domain cannot be activated. Of course, if you can easily meet these conditions, then this Inherent Domain might be the simplest Inherent Domain in the world."

"What are the conditions?" Li Pu asked.

"Greatest common denominator," Gaia said. "In simpler terms, it's about finding the greatest common denominator, much like Rider deploying his Inherent Domain. Although the king's pronouncements may be passionate, his dreams aren't necessarily the dreams of all his subjects, but the king's actions and will can become the reason and will for his subjects' actions. You could say that their goals may differ, but following Rider in his campaigns is their greatest common denominator, or that Rider himself is their greatest common denominator."

"Therefore, it applies to you as well," Gaia explained. "Don't treat each character as a soulless, self-aware tool; treat them as your friends, comrades, or family, and then find the greatest common denominator among them."

'Oh, that includes yourself, of course. Don't forget that you are Goddess now, while the other you isn't; on a certain level, he is the opposite of you.'

"He is the Herrscher," Gaia said. "So don't assume that what you, as Goddess, approve of is what he, as the Herrscher, approves of."

Similarly, what you and he approve of doesn't necessarily mean that other characters approve of it.

'Therefore...' Gaia said, 'you must find a common denominator that all these characters can agree on.'

'As long as you can find this greatest common divisor, you can complete your Inherent Domain.'

'Greatest common divisor?' Li Pu was a little troubled.

She had never really thought about this question before, and even her greatest common denominator was different from her own.

So what is it that can truly bring all the characters together and gain everyone's approval?

'The greatest common denominator of one's own...' Li Pu pondered this question.

'Honkai? Destroy the Honkai?'

Is this it?

Chapter Thirty: We're All the Same

Me too.

Find a place where 'I'm the same,' which is the common ground among these characters.

Finding "Me Too" sounds simple, but it's not so easy in practice. This isn't like that joke from before, like "Mei's my wife, and you think so too, so we're brothers." Now it's about finding the real greatest common denominator!

Is it Honkai? No, at least not for Belldandy, the Soul of the Underworld, or even for Li Pu.

If it's not Honkai...

"Do you need me to offer my opinion?" Gaia suddenly asked.

"Hmm," Li Pu replied, "What does Gaia think is the greatest common divisor?"

"I think it's [love]," Gaia said. "This love can encompass many things, such as Cecilia's maternal love, or Artoria's love for her country; these can all be considered a kind of love."

'Oh...' Li Pu thought for a moment and said, 'I think your statement can be more accurately summarized as [ideal].'

"Well, how should I put it? The love you're talking about is a bit... broad." Li Pu explained, "And this kind of love might not be recognized by everyone. For example, while the initial motivation for Soul of the Underworld to become a doctor was also 'love,' his love was merely 'love for nurses' uniforms.' As for me, or rather, Li Pu who became Herrscher, my initial motivation for fighting wasn't love either; it was more of a passive motivation."

"But one thing is certain," Li Pu said with certainty, "And that is ideals. Whatever the initial reason, we are all ultimately fighting for ideals, or have fought for ideals."

We may have different identities, live in different worlds, and have different ideals, but we are all people who fight for our ideals.

"And this ideal is fundamentally the same," Li Pu stated definitively, "It's all about fighting to create an ideal world! And within this ideal world, I believe there are many commonalities and shared goals."

'Ideals are the greatest common denominator for all people!'

"It seems you're quite certain of your thoughts," Gaia said with satisfaction. "Then let us use our songs to call upon the Heroic Spirit who fought for their ideals."

Li Pu quickly understood Gaia's meaning: if ideals are the greatest common denominator that unites people of different skin colors, regions, and worlds, then songs are a common language that everyone can understand.

Let us sing together! Let us call upon the Heroic Spirit who fought for their ideals.

Singing is a language that everyone can understand, and the voice of Goddess is even more so. Calm down, clear your mind of all distractions, and call upon the heroes who fight for their ideals, as well as rediscover the ideal self you once were.

What to sing? Sing that!

A small red boat a hundred years ago

Bearing the wishes of the people

A heart awakens on the day of faith

Facing difficulties head-on, we dared to forge ahead and create a new world.

When a spark ignites a prairie fire

A burning passion fears no hardship on the long march

The original aspiration was repeatedly tempered in the flames of war.

Enduring

We are at the crossroads of history

Looking back on a century of magnificent history

Firmly upholding ideals and beliefs, forging ahead bravely.

No change

Kallen, Fighting for the People; Cecilia, Sacrificed for Protection; Mei, who fought to the last moment against the Honkai; the Soul of the Underworld, Striving to Save Every Life; Li Pu, who was once familiar with this song and stood under that banner with passion and ideals, though not a very good Mess Hall Squad; and all those who yearn for a peaceful and beautiful New World, who share similar ideals and fight for it.

Let's gather here!

There was no raging wind like the Great Emperor, nor any earth-shattering changes like the Great Emperor; there was only a silver light, just like the Great Emperor's, that enveloped it and carried it under a dazzling starry sky.

The ground beneath your feet isn't the earth, but the surface of a lake. The lake reflects the starry sky, making it difficult to distinguish between the sky and the water.

"Inherent Domain? That's something worth studying." A Girl in White Coat walked out of what seemed to be a dimly lit place with her hands in her pockets and approached the Goddess Li Pu, saying, "The Goddess too, it's something worth studying."

She pushed up her glasses, and her expressionless face sent a chill down Li Pu's spine.

"I never expected to see Kiana again in that way." A White-haired Girl emerged from what seemed to be a dim yet also bright place. She smoothed her long hair and said, "Thank you, little... um, should I call you Goddess Belldandy now? Or Goddess Vivian? Or maybe Li Pu?"

"Speaking of Kiana, she is indeed very talented, but I never expected that Siegfried, a member of the Kaslana family, would fall so low." White-haired Girl walked out from the same place and said, "I must say, Cecilia, your departure has dealt a heavy blow to Siegfried."

"Sigh... I had no choice," said the girl called Cecilia. "At that time, that was the only way to save more lives."

"Saving countless lives through self-sacrifice." A Frog-like Doctor walked out from the same place and said, "In every way, you are a girl worthy of respect. I wonder if my medical skills are sufficient to cure Collapse Sickness."

"It seems like I'm the only one who stands out from the crowd." A Girl Carrying Giant Ship Equipment glided up to the Goddess Li Pu as if she were rollerblading and said, "The Supply Ship Mamiya reports for duty. Should I call you Goddess or admiral? But speaking of which, admiral, you used to be in the army, right? Although Mamiya doesn't look down on the army, she is still a little worried."

"Perhaps I am the only ordinary person here, without the outstanding abilities of you all, nor any great achievements." A Madam with Double Diamond Head stepped forward and said, "Thank you Goddess, for giving me the opportunity to reunite with Bronya again."

"Speaking of reunions, Raiden Mei seems to have decided that I am her mother." The Girl with Glasses pushed up her glasses and said, "This is not a good thing. Kevin doesn't seem to be very tolerant right now."

"Deception and lying are never good things," said a certain Saber belatedly. "It doesn't seem like the behavior of Goddess either."

"But that's just a strategy." Suddenly, a voice sounded behind the Goddess, saying, "One of the biggest reasons why Golden Flash was able to become the final victor in this Holy Grail War was that he basically didn't reveal his trump cards until the battle against Rider. And Tohsaka Tokiomi's actions may not conform to your creed as the King of Knights, but at least in terms of the overall plan, it was correct."

"Of course, Kiritsugu's strategy was also basically good, so in general, times have changed, Saber."

"Li Pu... Herrscher Li Pu," Goddess Li Pu said, looking at the handsome young man who walked out from behind her. "There's something strange about this."

I met myself; he was myself, yet not myself. I was him, yet not him.

"I thought Belldandy would be separated into two groups," said Herrscher Li Pu. "It seems that... Belldandy is really in a bit of bad luck."

"I suppose Belldandy did it voluntarily," Goddess Li Pu said, shaking her head. "She voluntarily relinquished her dominant power, merging her ritual with mine. For Belldandy, doing so allowed her to directly escape the limitations imposed by her 'role.' And although she relinquished her dominant power, as Goddess, her will and thoughts still influence us. From our perspective, this seems like a tragedy, and quite unfortunate."

"But from the Goddess's perspective, this is not a tragedy." Goddess Li Pu said, "She did not perish, but rather we achieved a state of mutual interdependence."

"However, I think you've fused with the Goddess more, while I've fused with very little," Herrscher Li Pu said. "If we separate now, you will be more influenced by Belldandy. Although you won't become the pure and near-perfect Goddess from the original story, you will be very close to her."

"I don't think so. I'm still me," said Goddess Li Pu.

"Huh? Then~" Herrscher Li Pu suddenly laughed strangely and said, "Heavenly King covers the Earth Tiger".