The gazes fixed on them now were not just one or two, but thousands upon thousands—the puppet-machine citizens were looking at them with eyes utterly devoid of human vitality.
Being the focus of so many gazes felt rather creepy.
Fortunately, they did not keep staring for long. The citizens stopped pretending, tore away their disguises, and transformed into Black-Armored Soldiers one after another.
They lined up with the precise orderliness of robots, then followed the First Emperor back into the city.
Thus, just as Lantigreese had begun to relax, she tensed up again. A small squad of cavalry was riding toward them, clearly headed their way.
"Big sister."
She called out uneasily to the person she considered most dependable.
"Don't worry. If they truly intended to do anything to us, they would have acted long ago."
They would have ended up like those people who had run toward Xianyang City—slain outright by the Black-Armored Soldiers.
Of course, not everyone had been killed. Some were truly innocent, namely those who had come from afar to watch the ceremony.
A few soldiers said something to those people, and they simply followed along.
That said, the soldiers heading toward them felt alive. They were living people, and human expressions could be seen on their faces.
As for those mechanical puppet Black-Armored Soldiers, their faces were completely hidden behind masks.
"Please."
The soldiers who arrived did not question them or say much else. They merely invited them aboard a carriage they had brought along.
After boarding the carriage, they entered the city behind the main procession.
Once inside, the two sisters could finally get a better look at the magnificence of the city through the carriage window.
It differed greatly from the Xianyang City of the real world, and the greatest difference was its sheer size.
This Xianyang City was on the scale of a twenty-first-century metropolis.
They had thought it would be cold and lifeless inside, considering all the frigid puppet machines they had seen, but in truth, it was filled with the vitality of living people.
The people living here also differed greatly from those in the Xianyang City outside. Their living conditions were better by an unimaginable degree.
This place resembled a rapidly developing city that had just entered the First Industrial Revolution.
Naturally, its urban planning and construction were even better than those of cities from that era outside.
The closer they came to the center of the city, the more stunned the sisters became.
The metal construct that appeared to have been built upon the World Tree was truly enormous. If it fell, it could probably level the Xianyang City outside.
What was that thing for?
"Big sister, what are they taking us to do?"
Lantigreese spoke uneasily.
She had lost contact with the Akasha System again. That meant they could not escape this space or return home, which made her deeply uneasy.
"I don't know. We'll understand once we meet that emperor."
They could only wait until they met the First Emperor to find out.
Still, Brunhilde had never expected the First Emperor from history to be this extraordinary. Yet the more extraordinary he was, the more excited she became.
Everything she had seen so far was enough to prove that this First Emperor possessed extraordinary abilities.
If he could also become one of humanity's thirteen representatives, then humanity's chances of winning Ragnarok would increase by another measure.
But would he truly be willing to fight on humanity's behalf?
After all, this emperor possessed a world of his own. Once he represented humanity in battle, this place would likely be exposed.
Would the gods allow humanity to control this place?
Was it necessary for him to take such a risk?
As Brunhilde considered this, she suddenly grew tense as well.
If this emperor was unwilling to take such a risk, then the situation of the two sisters would become troublesome.
If he did not want this place exposed, then they probably would not be killed—if he intended to kill them, he would have done so long ago—but they might be imprisoned in this world and prevented from returning.
That would be a serious problem. After all, she was the one who had provoked the gods into holding Ragnarok.
If she, the instigator, suddenly disappeared, would this confrontation not be unable to proceed?
The humans outside might be destroyed by the gods, who had grown impatient from waiting.
"Big sister?"
Lantigreese noticed that cold sweat had suddenly appeared on her sister's brow, and that Brunhilde had clenched her fists. She was clearly worried about something.
"It's nothing."
Brunhilde immediately forced herself back into her usual state. She could not let her unease spread to her younger sister.
In the blink of an eye, the two sisters stood before a magnificent building.
They were about to climb stairs even taller than Gilgamesh's pyramid temple, enter the palace hall, and meet the First Emperor seated upon his throne.
The Means to Make Humanity Fight the Gods
The Valkyrie sisters were not summoned immediately.
They waited outside the palace for the emperor to finish handling state affairs.
In the blink of an eye, half a day had passed, yet there was still no sign that they would be called in.
Were they deliberately being left out here?
Others might have seen it that way, but Lantigreese did not think so.
The First Emperor had not made an exception because of their special identities, dismissed the officials, and postponed the political matters arranged for the day.
No matter who they were, they had to follow the rules of the Qin Empire. When it was time to summon them, they would be summoned.
Thus, while outside the palace, Lantigreese could see many people entering and leaving, seemingly busy with something after being ordered to immediately carry out various tasks.
"Big sister, if this Qin Empire still existed two thousand years from now, what would it be like?"
Lantigreese could not help asking.
It had already developed to this extent. She could not imagine what it would look like after two thousand years.
"I don't know."
Brunhilde shook her head, though she too was curious about two thousand years of development.
If this Qin Empire encountered no problems and did not split apart, who knew how far it would develop?
But Brunhilde had no mind to think about that now. There was something troubling her.
She truly feared that the First Emperor was deliberately dragging out time. That would be a major problem.
The time for Ragnarok was already drawing near. How could it be held if she did not return?
If the gods could not find her, some might mock her for running away. But the mockery was not the important part—the important part was that Ragnarok might not be held because she was absent.
Then would the gods begin destroying the Human World?
What a miscalculation. She had never expected to be pulled into another isolated space.
If she had known this would happen, she should have first confirmed the first fighter and summoned him in advance.
Then, even if she was absent, he could at least hold things off for a while.
Hm? There was movement. She heard a great many footsteps.
Soon afterward, the officials came into view. It seemed their meeting had ended.
At last, they were summoned for an audience.
When they stepped into the grand hall, which radiated overwhelming majesty, and saw the black-robed figure seated at its far end, both sisters instinctively tensed.
The gaze cast upon them did not carry the crushing pressure they had felt before, yet this time, it still made the sisters' skin crawl.
Under that gaze, Brunhilde felt as though every part of her, inside and out, had been laid bare.
It was not the feeling of her clothing failing to conceal her, as though she were naked and fully exposed.
It was not merely her skin, but the physical components beneath it—her flesh, bones, and everything else that made up her body.
Even her consciousness, emotions, values, habits, temperament, and every other thing that influenced a person's words and actions were being examined in detail.
It was as though every element that formed Brunhilde as a person had been completely analyzed by those eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through the entire All Creation of the universe.
Everything about her appeared to be seen clearly by this king, without reservation.
That sensation of being completely read and analyzed by his gaze filled Brunhilde with fear.
After calming herself, Brunhilde concisely explained the origins and purpose of the two sisters to the emperor.
The First Emperor showed no surprise. Instead, he merely looked at them calmly.
"So, you wish for Us to participate as well?"
The First Emperor's voice was calm, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Indeed. I hope Your Majesty will also participate in this confrontation that will decide humanity's future, as one of humanity's representatives."
Originally, Brunhilde had wanted to add that the citizens of the Qin Dynasty outside could also be considered the First Emperor's subjects.
Even though the Qin Empire outside had been destroyed, could he simply stand by and watch his people's fate be decided at the gods' whim in the future?
Just as she had provoked and challenged the gods, spurring them into agreeing to Ragnarok, she had considered using similar goading tactics to make the First Emperor agree as well.
However, Brunhilde stopped herself.
This emperor was not someone who could be so easily provoked, and her intuition told her that doing so would only make things worse.
It would be better to sincerely ask this emperor instead.
"There is something We are curious about."
He neither agreed nor refused, merely saying this instead.
What was he curious about?
"Please ask, Your Majesty."
"Why do you believe humanity can fight the gods? No matter how powerful ordinary humans become, they cannot possibly be the gods' opponents."
"Yes, ordinary humans can never defeat gods. But Your Majesty is not an ordinary person, is he?"
"Heh heh heh."
The First Emperor chuckled.
"So, you believe We can defeat gods? And what makes you certain? If you can be certain, would the gods not know as well?"
Brunhilde understood what he meant.
There was no reason for her to know that such people had existed in history while the gods did not, allowing her to choose them freely.
One possibility was that the gods simply did not know that humans capable of truly slaying gods had existed in history. In that case, Brunhilde herself should not know either, yet she must possess some other method of enabling humanity to slay gods.
The other possibility was that the gods knew and simply did not care, because they did not believe these people could win.
Therefore, the First Emperor wanted to understand the former. He wanted to know exactly how Brunhilde intended to allow ordinary humans to slay gods.
"To injure gods, ordinary humans cannot do it unless they possess divine weapons."
When Brunhilde had first begun searching for people who could represent humanity in battle, she had not expected extraordinary beings like the Hero King, King Solomon, and the First Emperor to exist.
Therefore, the people she sought were exceptional powerful figures from human history. Only by giving them divine weapons could they fight the gods.
"So you intend for humans to wield divine weapons against gods? I fear that will not be enough."
"It is not enough."
Simply giving humans divine weapons would not allow them to fight gods.
First, the divine weapons used by humans had to be highly compatible with them. Only by achieving unity between human and divine weapon, mastering the weapon perfectly, could they barely contend with their enemies.
But how could there be such easily compatible divine weapons for humans? To wield them as naturally as one's own limbs would also require training.
Therefore, Brunhilde had a method to achieve unity between human and divine weapon, allowing humanity to possess the strength to fight the gods.
Before you continue