Herrscher of Reason shot her a disappointed look. "We're the dignified Crimson Kite Immortal. Even if you aren't really her, you still look like the Crimson Kite Immortal. How can you embarrass yourself so badly outside?"
"Huh?"
Still immersed in Fu Hua's earlier words, Amber failed to follow Herrscher of Reason's train of thought. Still, she asked in confusion, "Was that embarrassing? When I pulled the card just now, I asked Mr. Navigator to help control my body. There shouldn't have been any problem, right?"
"Not that!" Seeing that Amber's brain had short-circuited, Herrscher of Reason simply explained, "How can the dignified Crimson Kite Immortal draw with some foreign god nobody's even heard of? Now that I can open the Imaginary Space for you, hurry up and teach that guy a lesson!"
"..."
Only then did Amber finally come back to her senses.
You don't actually want to save face. You just want to stir something up.
Able to read Amber's thoughts just like Fu Hua, Herrscher of Reason made a face that said, Why are you such an antique too? "If you keep acting like this, they'll never get the chance to see how amazing we are! Didn't you want to show off with the antique's appearance and stories before? Why only think about it and never do it? Perfect. Let me go out there and put on a show for everyone."
"Ah...?" Amber had not expected the memories Fu Hua gave her to be so detailed, and she could not help glaring at Fu Hua.
Before, that single glare would have been enough for Fu Hua to imagine two hours' worth of violent beatdowns. But after the subtly awkward atmosphere between them earlier, seeing Amber's mood recover made Fu Hua secretly sigh in relief. Besides, she had indeed forgotten to protect the girl's privacy for a moment, so she did not hold it against her.
It was not that Fu Hua lacked attentiveness. Mainly, Amber had never hidden her thoughts, so Fu Hua had not felt there was anything to conceal.
Seeing the two of them still exchanging looks, Herrscher of Reason said unhappily, "Wow. You call me Shi Bao all the time, but what? It's fine in front of the antique, while you have to hide things from me?"
"It's not that."
Amber scratched the back of her head and said awkwardly, "It's mainly because Fu Hua feels like an elder, so it's not a big deal. But Shi Bao is different..."
Simply put, there were some things that were fine for parents to know, but unbearably embarrassing for friends to know.
"What do you mean? Doesn't this Martial Uncle count as an elder?" Herrscher of Reason asked indignantly.
"Uh..." Amber looked away.
"I can't take this." Herrscher of Reason drew a breath and calmed herself down somewhat. But she was not someone who could sit still, so she continued, "I'm not like that antique who can stay with you all the time. You're not planning to make me remain inside Feathered Dust forever, are you?"
"Not really..." Though she said that, Amber had not actually considered such things before pulling. She had simply pulled because she wanted to.
Herrscher of Reason: ...So I was just the product of an impulsive decision?
"Don't make things difficult for Amber." Fu Hua finally spoke. "In the end, we are merely consciousnesses attached to objects. We may guide Amber, but we cannot actively put her in a difficult position."
Hearing that, Herrscher of Reason was speechless.
Come on, who understands better here, you or me? Of course I know that. But I understand people's hearts better too.
With Amber's personality, the thing she feared least was someone giving her trouble. Rather, if nobody went looking for trouble, a girl with so little experience would only wander around like a directionless cricket.
Do not be fooled by Amber's troubled expression right now. In truth, this was precisely the necessary factor for helping the girl's heart mature faster.
Put simply, if everyone always accommodated her and nothing unexpected ever happened, she would never learn how to handle unexpected situations or react on the spot.
And it was obvious from the memories that the girl had always been the one relying on others. Even now, though she was combat power heavily relied upon by Chaldea, she merely mechanically went wherever she was pointed and fought whatever she was told to fight, without needing to think much.
Making Amber rack her brains and think like this was the right answer.
"Don't say that!" Amber was unusually unhappy with Fu Hua's words. "You aren't existences attached to something. You are my master and my friends."
"And... I also think it isn't very good for one person to occupy the body..."
Amber said, "After all, this is actually Master's body."
"This body exists because of you." Fu Hua did not agree with that statement. "Without your existence, neither this body nor I and... Xiao Shi could possibly exist here."
"Oh, come on! What kind of master teaches a disciple like this? Why are both of you so stubborn?"
Herrscher of Reason could not stand listening anymore. "I'll give you the answer. You're both right, okay?"
Amber also realized she had been too serious about it, but she still stressed, "Anyway, you aren't some kind of add-on!"
After saying that, she looked at Herrscher of Reason. "As for Shi Bao, I'll have to find a way to explain your existence to everyone in Chaldea..."
"Fine, fine, fine. I'll leave the arrangements to you. But my patience isn't as good as that antique's, you know." Herrscher of Reason was not actually in a hurry. She also needed to study the current situation, and going outside could wait a little longer.
"Oh, right. Open the Herrscher Core permissions for me. Otherwise, I'll have to borrow the antique's Feathered Dust every time, and that's way too inconvenient."
"Okay." Amber nodded, then left Feathered Dust.
The Marduk Hand Axe was unexpectedly huge, nearly a hundred meters long. Fortunately, Quetzalcoatl had pterosaur familiars. With several pterosaurs dragging it, it would only take two or three days to transport it to Uruk, roughly the same time it would take them to travel there.
Having gained another powerful ally, everyone in Chaldea was in high spirits. But after returning to Uruk, they heard terrible news.
"Gilgamesh died?" Even Ishtar was stunned, and everyone hurried back to the divine tower.
Gilgamesh was no longer sitting on the throne. Only Siduri remained standing beside it, deeply contemplating something. When she noticed everyone's arrival, her eyes lit up, and she hurried over in a small jog. "Everyone returned safely..."
"Yes, but what happened to King Gilgamesh..." Merlin got straight to the point. "He was someone who could see through the future. No one should have been able to kill him...!?"
Seeing this, Siduri skipped the pleasantries and directly explained what had happened.
After hearing the whole story, everyone in Chaldea, including Amber and Herrscher of Reason, fell silent.
"King Gilgamesh... died from overwork?" Fujimaru Ritsuka could not believe it.
I barely managed to finish the update in time. I've decided to take a day off tomorrow after all. I've been busy running around these past few days and am a little worn out. Sorry, everyone.
Also, please vote! Please bookmark! 1
The Underworld
"Alright, so we rushed as fast as we could and arrived at Kusa City. But dragging along the reluctant Ishtar took up more than half a day."
Standing in the center of the plaza where Ritsuka had once died, Merlin gave his summary.
"Boohoo... We're going to that creepy place again. I'm the goddess of Venus..." Ishtar rarely showed such a completely unmotivated expression.
Amber had learned about Ishtar's mythology while Mash had been explaining it to Ritsuka, so she could understand Ishtar's reluctance to enter the Underworld. But... among everyone present, Ishtar was the only one who knew the way. Without a guide, wandering around aimlessly would only waste more time.
"Once this is over, I'll give you more Star Stones as payment," Amber comforted her.
"It's not like I'm some poor goddess who has to scrape up every last bit of profit." Having received twenty percent of the treasures in the Babylonian Treasury, Ishtar spoke with much more confidence. "Fine, fine. Since I already agreed, I'll accompany you without complaint."
After speaking, her worried expression turned serious. "But I need to make something clear. This time, only Ritsuka, Mash, Crimson Kite, and I can enter the Underworld."
"Why is that?" Just as the local gods did not understand South America, Quetzalcoatl's understanding of Mesopotamia was limited to the surface.
"Because in the Underworld, Divinity becomes a side effect."
Ishtar explained, "Weak Divinity becomes even weaker, while powerful Divinity becomes very weak. In the Underworld, only its mistress, Ereshkigal, holds the highest authority. What do you think would happen if a god died and fell down there?"
Quetzalcoatl blinked. Dead was dead. What else could happen?
Merlin understood. "I see. Gods would shout, 'I refuse to admit that I'm dead!' and make a fuss about leaving the Underworld. Then the boundary between life and death would disappear."
"Exactly." Ishtar nodded. "Even gods should remain in the Underworld after they die, which is why the Underworld has a system that neutralizes Divinity."
"I see, but even so, Ishtar still came back out." Mash looked at Ishtar with sparkling eyes, apparently full of admiration.
Ishtar's face darkened, and her expression became awkward. "Such an innocent stab straight into the sore spot... Is this the legendary airheadedness? I can't even bring myself to get angry..."
"I see." Only then did Quetzalcoatl nod in understanding, once again realizing the difference between the two sides' way of thinking. Then she smiled at Amber. "But Crimson Kite is fine, isn't she?"
"Given Crimson Kite's history, this land should recognize Crimson Kite's Divinity. Yet strangely, Crimson Kite truly has no Divinity at all." Ishtar did not understand why, so she could only sigh. "How strange. It can't be that Crimson Kite refuses to acknowledge her own Divinity... can it..."
The moment she finished speaking, she realized it.
No, that was probably exactly it.
Mesopotamia had the method of ascension known as Divine Right of Human Granting. As long as Crimson Kite was willing, she could immediately become a god. Although such gods generally did not possess very high Divinity, in most cases, having Divinity was nobler than having none. Divinity was the ticket to becoming a Top-tier Heroic Spirit.
It was not that one could not become a Top-tier Heroic Spirit without Divinity, but even after becoming one, Divinity would still provide bonuses to one's abilities.
Ishtar looked at Amber helplessly. "Refusing to become a 'god'—there should be a limit to ignorance."
"Haha, that's exactly why I like Crimson Kite so much." Quetzalcoatl thought that was even better. Compared to gods, she liked humans. Accomplishing the great feats of gods as a human was, in her eyes, incomparably dazzling.
Huh? Is that a thing?
Amber was confused. She had never accepted it, but she had never rejected becoming a god either. Besides, being a god sounded pretty cool. If the opportunity really came, she did not think she would refuse...
Fu Hua: ...Perhaps it is not your problem.
Amber: Hm?
Fu Hua: My impression of gods comes almost entirely from Honkai. So perhaps my body directly excludes Divinity.
Ah... Come to think of it, Herrschers always called themselves the apostles of gods, and the god was naturally Honkai.
Herrscher of Reason: Don't lump me in with that! I have no favorable impression of that damned Honkai. If you want to say it, say it was the other Herrschers besides the Herrscher of Reason!
Amber: ...But thinking carefully, wasn't Sirin the only one who actually called herself an apostle of God?
Herrscher of Reason: I can't say for sure. Who knows whether they said it behind the scenes? Besides me, Welt, and Shier, it seems like everyone else called themselves that, didn't they?
Amber: ...Sorry, I can't remember...
Even Amber herself could not remember clearly, so naturally the other two who had received her memories were not any clearer.
"Then without further delay, I wish you a smooth journey first." Merlin interrupted everyone's idle chatter.
"Mm. At the very least, make sure the other three return safely, Ishtar." Quetzalcoatl nodded as well.
"I'm telling you, there is no 'at the very least' here." Ishtar said helplessly. "Either we defeat her and everyone returns, or we fail to defeat her and everyone gets imprisoned. Those are the only two possibilities. That's why I'm having you stay behind to prevent accidents."
She continued, "From an insurance standpoint, it would be best to leave Crimson Kite outside too. But once I go down there, I won't have much combat power, and Mash isn't the kind of Servant who excels at offense. So to ensure our fighting strength, we're bringing Crimson Kite along."
"But if something goes wrong then, it'll be your turn to act. The two of you will have to find a way to negotiate with Ereshkigal and get Crimson Kite and the others back to the surface. In the worst-case scenario, call over the three Servants at the North Wall along with Anna."
"I see."
Merlin smiled. "It seems you've changed too. You're actually challenging a battle you think you'll lose. After leaving your father's side, even a goddess can grow."
"Say whatever you want!" Ishtar curled her lips in annoyance. "Alright! I'm opening the path to the Underworld now. If there's nothing else, move aside!"
"...Wait."
Amber suddenly spoke.
Everyone's eyes turned toward her.
"If combat power is urgently needed, I have a very capable helper here," Amber said.
"A capable helper?" Ishtar was somewhat curious about who this helper could be at a time like this, but she did not think much of it. Considering Crimson Kite's humble personality, it was hard to say what level of "capable" this helper really was.
So she casually said, "Then call that helper over. The more people there are outside, the more convenient any rescue will be. By the way, what level is your helper? Anna? Or Leonidas?"
"...It's Quetzalcoatl..."
"...Huh?" x5
"Honkai: Star Rail, Starting by Selling Pink Elf Pillows"
Recommending a novel with a male protagonist. Not sure whether everyone would be interested.
I rested well, and today feels easy. I can easily manage three updates! 4
But the recommendation slot has already passed. Sigh...
Xiao Shi: You're the Challenger
"Quet... Quetzalcoatl?!" Ishtar looked at Amber, then at Quetzalcoatl, feeling as though her mind had crashed.
Quetzalcoatl was startled at first, but she quickly smiled again. "I didn't expect there to be another strong person here. Big sister wants to see what she can do too."
Go, Shi Bao! Put on a show for them! Amber did not waste words and directly called for Herrscher of Reason.
So soon? Herrscher of Reason had not expected an opportunity to come out this quickly.
After all, I promised earlier that I'd find a way to let you come out. I think this is the perfect timing.
Amber said, But I still need to use the Herrscher Core. Otherwise, if Ereshkigal has resistance too, I won't have many options again.
Fine, then let me use Feathered Dust!
Okay. Amber had no objection.
Fu Hua reminded them, Leave a feather for Amber. I'll act with Amber, so we can look after each other if we encounter danger. I can also notify Xiao Shi immediately.
The three completed their exchange of consciousness in an instant. Then, using Feathered Dust as a vessel, Herrscher of Reason condensed a body and stood beside Amber.
Before you continue