The Man in the Multiverse, Transformed into Fu Hua at the Start Chapter 4

"Tch, no matter how useless she is, she's still a goddess. Ordinary magecraft can't even scratch her." Watching Ishtar completely ignore his attacks, Gilgamesh's face darkened. "And she's still hiding her authorities, not using them. Even my patience has its limits, Ishtar!"

"That's my line! Constantly interfering with my attacks—annoying as you are, have some limits!"

Ishtar's expression was equally sour. While Gilgamesh couldn't truly harm her without making up his mind, her own attacks were largely restricted by him as well. Without using her authorities, his words applied to her just the same.

Her magecraft was basically useless against a demigod like Gilgamesh.

"I'm not using my authorities for Uruk's sake! Not for your health!"

After saying that, her face grew even darker. "And that last line of mine pissed me off even more. Why do I have to care about this Uruk that isn't even mine... Forget it, I'll end this in one strike!"

"Master!" Mash and Ana struggled to play any meaningful role even in this petty squabble between gods. Seeing the magical reaction around Ishtar suddenly swell, they realized she was about to get serious.

"Hmph...!" Gilgamesh snorted coldly. He was far from his prime now—not only because he had to supply magical energy to all the Heroic Spirits he'd summoned, but also because he was constantly charging the three hundred Divine Authority Seals across all of Uruk.

Such immense magical consumption made it impossible for him to go all out.

But just then, Ishtar, who had been gathering unprecedented magical power, suddenly stopped moving. Her expression went blank, and she began to fall toward the ground in a daze.

...What just happened?

Everyone wore bewildered expressions. Only Gilgamesh quickly realized what was going on, then turned his gaze toward Amber.

But Amber had already left her spot. Watching the goddess with Tohsaka Rin's face, she couldn't bear to let her land face-first, so she flew forward and caught the falling goddess midair.

The Heavenly Boat Ma'anna, delayed, aimed at Amber with a human-like hesitation, as if debating whether to fire.

Amber felt a bit awkward that this drone could still move even with its master unconscious.

"Senior?" Ritsuka, following close behind, looked at the unconscious Ishtar in Amber's arms, puzzled. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry," Amber said. "I just put her to sleep temporarily. But a god's mind and a human's mind aren't necessarily the same. To be safe, you'd better not get too close just yet."

That was right—just now, she had used what she considered the most mysterious and powerful of the Tai Xu Sword Qi Five Aggregates: the Divine Aggregate.

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Chapter 8: Arrangements

"Hmph, rare to see this one so quiet. Guess if you live long enough, you really do see everything." Gilgamesh, who had just been talking about destroying the goddess, now sat back on his throne. "I've already recorded your arrangements on the clay tablets. Just follow Siduri from now on. As for that useless goddess, just dump her somewhere without dignity."

Isn't that a bit too pitiful...

Fujimaru Ritsuka breathed a sigh of relief that Gilgamesh hadn't demanded Ishtar's death.

Amber also didn't want to kill this goddess with Tohsaka Rin's face. If Gilgamesh had insisted on lethal measures, she might have resorted to more drastic actions.

Soon, Siduri came before everyone with a stone tablet. She read from it while guiding them out of the Divine Tower.

She skillfully smoothed over many of Gilgamesh's remarks, explaining that the king actually valued their combat strength highly. Then she laid out their assignments one by one... except for Fu Hua, whose role was left completely blank.

'This should mean... free action? After all, even though I helped out, I haven't explicitly said I'd assist Chaldea or Uruk...'

Just as Amber was thinking this, a soft moan came from Ishtar.

"Mmm... I... what happened...?" A dizziness she had almost never experienced made Ishtar deeply uncomfortable. The scene before her spun from the strange sensation, but as a goddess, both her body and mind were far stronger than ordinary people.

According to the Navigator's calculations, the force that would knock an ordinary person out for a full day had only stunned Ishtar for half an hour.

"Don't worry, your spirit was just slightly injured. I controlled the force—there won't be any aftereffects," Amber said softly.

The beauty at such close range was overwhelming. Even as a fellow woman, Amber found it incredibly stimulating, and her voice unconsciously became gentle and careful.

Fortunately, with Fu Hua's face and the Navigator managing her expression, she didn't think she'd let an embarrassing, lovesick look slip.

But the beauty shock worked both ways for Ishtar.

That face she already favored so much appeared right before her. Ishtar felt like her heart had stopped. As a goddess, she had teased plenty of good-looking humans before, but now she couldn't manage a single frivolous word.

Was it really that human's influence?

This thought flashed through Ishtar's mind. She quickly shook her head, expelled the idea, and flew up from Amber's arms.

Realizing she had been ambushed by the person in front of her, Ishtar fumed, "Attacking a goddess! You disrespectful wretch!"

"That wasn't my intention, but if I had let you unleash that attack just now, none of the people here would have survived. So I had no choice but to resort to this," Amber said calmly.

"You acknowledge my divine dignity with your words, but you show no real respect at all!" Ishtar glared at Siduri. "Siduri, keep her in line!"

As the high priestess of Uruk, Siduri was a very convenient subordinate for the city's patron goddess. With her extraordinary piety and wisdom, Ishtar valued and liked her greatly. With Gilgamesh absent, she naturally started bossing Siduri around.

"Apologies, Lady Ishtar. This person is not a resident of Uruk. By rights, the Divine Tower has no authority over her." Siduri was adept at handling those above her, and her ability to read their moods was exceptional.

Seeing that Ishtar wasn't actually angry, she even fanned the flames playfully: "Also, Lady Ishtar, if you're going to keep throwing a tantrum, I'd ask you to do it far from Uruk. Otherwise, the king will dislike you even more."

"Who needs that Golden Sparkle's approval!" Ishtar scoffed.

But then, seeing that it was getting late, she lost interest in lingering. She shot Amber a fierce glare, then took to the sky, tossing out a parting threat: "Next time we meet, it won't be so easy. Remember that, handsome little girl. And Siduri—if Gilgamesh ever suddenly drops dead, I'll still be willing to protect you and Uruk. Just raise a white flag and welcome me then!"

With that, she left without looking back.

"...What a capricious goddess," Ritsuka said, smiling at Amber.

Amber thought so too.

Even with all that arrogant posturing and loud questioning, strangely enough, she didn't feel angry. More than anything, it was just exasperating.

Perhaps it was because her personality and appearance were too similar to Tohsaka Rin's, Amber actually felt quite favorably disposed toward her. And from the clips she remembered, Ishtar would later join the protagonist's group, so she probably wasn't a complete villain.

Thinking this, Amber said, "I didn't sense any malice from her. Maybe she has a personality different from her behavior."

After that small episode, Siduri led everyone to a two-story stone house, gave some final instructions, and then left.

They first divided up the rooms, then gathered around Mash's shield.

Seeing that they seemed about to use some kind of communication spell, Amber took the opportunity during their preparations to glance at her system.

[Congratulations, Host. A bountiful harvest.]

Navigator sent his blessings first.

Harvest?

Amber looked at Recognition and was surprised to find that the original 3,700 had now become around 5,200.

'So much! Can we do something with Recognition?' She thought about awakening her benefactor, but after looking around, she didn't see that option.

[The Main Control Consciousness has planned a route for the Host.]

Navigator's pop-ups kept appearing: [Please use the Gacha System to improve and strengthen your power. The system will operate with ensuring the Host's survival as its primary goal.]

In simple terms, don't worry about her for now, right?

Amber felt a bit uncomfortable but had to admit that the Main Control Consciousness's arrangement was the optimal solution. If she got killed, the system bound to her wouldn't fare well either.

But... 'Am I really still in danger in this world?'

[No fatal threats detected.]

Then...

[The system has set a route. Please trust and act according to the system's guidance.]

Amber wasn't the type to ignore advice. Since this was the Main Control Consciousness's plan, trusting her choice wasn't a bad thing.

'Then, let's gacha, Navigator.'

[Confirm gacha.]

[Please draw cards.]

Unlike the first time which was fully automatic, this time Amber saw the gacha interface. How to put it... it was almost a one-to-one replica of Honkai: Star Rail, except the cover images were replaced with many different armors, or rather, Fu Hua from different periods.

And there was no weapon banner—seems like it was a combined banner.

The dormant DNA of a former mobile game player couldn't help but tremble.

'Are the rates public?'

[There are no rates in gacha.]

Navigator answered almost every question: [What you draw depends entirely on luck, or... fate. What the system can do is help the Host establish fate links, ensuring the cards you draw aren't too chaotic.]

'I see...'

The Q&A ended. Amber looked at the familiar single draw and ten-draw buttons, then tentatively tapped the ten-draw.

[Use 1600 Recognition to draw?]

'Yes.'

[Detected that weighting can currently be applied via Recognition. This action will consume more Recognition and will indicate item quality.]

'...How much extra?'

[Depends on the Host's choice. Navigator suggests—all of it.]

'...Let me ask first. Recognition's only function is gacha, right?'

[Yes.]

'Then add it all in.'

Amber didn't hesitate much and said directly.

Having a bunch of miscellaneous junk parts was nowhere near as good as getting one truly excellent item—she understood that clearly. So she wasn't opposed to going all-in on weighting.

[Draw complete.]

[Duplicate items have been categorized and summarized.]

[Star Stone x23300, Armament Resonance x1900, Fu Hua: Border Patrol (Bottom) x1, Feathered Dust x1, Curio: Noisy Superior x1]

'...WTF?'

Even Amber was stunned by the result of this draw. She silently thanked Navigator again for managing her expression, or she would have made a fool of herself in front of everyone. But more importantly! She had actually drawn a treasure this time!

In truth, though it had never been mentioned, her first draw was already terrifyingly lucky. Not only had she drawn Fu Hua's character card—from the Destiny Expedition period, practically Fu Hua at her peak—but she had also drawn a Honkai: Star Rail curio, Dreaming 0110.

Many people might not know that curio's name. It was only a gray, the lowest-grade curio, but its effect was incredibly straightforward—especially in Amber's hands right now.

Dreaming 0110: When entering battle, all allies deal 50% increased damage. After 15 turns, damage taken increases by 10%.

Although the effect she drew wasn't as ridiculous as in the game—only a 20% all-coverage damage boost—the damage taken only increased by 5%.

Simple and crude, yet exceptionally effective at raising damage.

The Feathered Dust and Noisy Superior she drew next were even heavier hitters.

Feathered Dust, as the most convenient Divine Key for the Crimson Kite Immortal, was a key of consciousness that targeted the mind and created illusions—truly boundless in its utility.

Noisy Superior was equally weighty. In the game's Divergent Universe, its effect was: after an enemy target is attacked by a "Fire" attribute character and enters Weakness Break, the next time it recovers from Weakness Break, its Toughness recovery amount is reduced by 50%.

In the Simulated Universe, it had a different effect, but the real-world template followed the Divergent Universe.

When an enemy was struck by Amber's "Flame"-type attack, a "residue" would be left inside the enemy's body. No matter how skilled the enemy was at recovery, if they couldn't expel the residue, their injuries would never fully heal.

What a jackpot!

Was this the power of going all-in?

Amber couldn't help but squirm wildly in her mind.

After exiting the gacha interface, she eagerly equipped Feathered Dust, but she wasn't in a rush to study it. She'd wait until late at night, when she was alone, to delve into it.

With that thought, she turned her attention back to Mash's shield.

The link Chaldea had established was already complete. Not only that, judging by the looks on both sides, they had already been conversing for quite some time. This also meant she had been spacing out quite a bit, and the conversation had mostly left her out.

Just as she was about to zone out again and study Feathered Dust, Dr. Roman on the shield's screen suddenly spoke up: "Come to think of it, I've been meaning to ask."

"Crimson Kite Immortal, can you explain here who summoned you to this era?"

"Roman?" Da Vinci in the image frowned at the man beside her.

This was a very important question. They had been through many Singularities and encountered many Heroic Spirits, and depending on who summoned them, they could directly distinguish whether a Heroic Spirit was friend or foe.

For example... Ishtar and the other three goddesses, as well as the fake Enkidu, were likely Heroic Spirits summoned by the Demon King, existing solely to destroy human order.

And while Anna was not summoned by Gilgamesh, she was directly summoned by the Counter Force, existing to protect human order.