Some Things Stand Above One's Own Life!

How could one seek a god's protection without giving anything in return?

This was a necessary price.

After all, she was barely holding the three great demons at a stalemate. But if they returned once more, would she be able to drive them back again?

That was still unknown.

What was more, if minor demons took the opportunity to breach the village's defensive barrier while she was fighting the great demons, what then?

Pioneering Wisdom: "Kikyo, you needn't do this. Once you join the Chat Group, you will surely grow stronger step by step with time. Protecting your village will be effortless."

Pioneering Wisdom: "If you're worried you won't live to see that day, I can promise you this: if you encounter mortal danger, I will step in to protect you!"

This was no empty courtesy.

Kikyo was a group member he acknowledged, and he greatly admired her character.

As long as it was within his capabilities, he truly did not mind lending her a hand.

Multi-Fandom Great Female Protagonist: "Kikyo, Hermes was once a Nameless who traveled the world doing good. There's no need to doubt his words, so you'd best think it over again."

Warring States Witch: "There is no need to think it over. I've considered it clearly. I am a shrine maiden to begin with; choosing a god to worship is only natural."

Warring States Witch: "Besides, being able to serve Lord Hermes would already be far beyond what I deserve. For other shrine maidens, it would be an unimaginable stroke of fortune!"

Kikyo gazed into the distance, where the demonic aura rampaging across heaven and earth seemed close enough to touch.

How could she not have considered what the Group Leader had said?

She also believed that, given enough time, she would certainly grow stronger step by step.

Perhaps she might even eventually become powerful enough to end this golden age of demons.

But how long would that take?

One year? Two years? Or ten, a hundred?

She could wait that long, but could everything she protected wait that long too?

She had the support of her fellow group members, and Lord Hermes had promised to protect her. But what about the village? What about her Sister?

Would she ask her fellow group members for help with them too?

Or shamelessly beg Lord Hermes to intervene?

That would be unreasonable!

Lord Hermes had agreed to protect her because she was a member of the Chat Group, because they had a natural bond.

But how could she ask for anything more?

Kikyo had thought this through clearly, and she understood it well.

Dragon, Ning Qingyu, Konan... the group members watched silently, without interfering with the choice of the person involved.

Unlike Luo Qianqiu, the Group Leader, quite a few group members understood Kikyo's choice very well.

For Dragon, Ning Qingyu, and the others, there were always some things in this world that stood above their own lives.

Dragon could give his life for the revolution, to create the ideal New World.

Ning Qingyu could spare no cost for the Mount Hua Sect he had defended all his life.

Floze could likewise pour out her heart and blood, pressing ever onward to create a new age of cuisine where everyone could eat their fill and keep warm, where children could laugh to their hearts' content.

All of it ran through their entire lives; it was a conviction that transcended life itself!

And Kikyo was the same!

Hermes fell silent for a moment before finally agreeing.

Whether it was the instinct of a pioneer to explore countless worlds, or the desire of an Envoy of Erudition to study the unknown...

Or even the Pure Beauty Origin's wish to transform this otherworld overrun by demons and evil into an ideal golden age...

These desires were all so pure.

They were temptations that a seeker walking the path of destiny could scarcely resist!

Pioneering Wisdom: "@Kikyo, carve a divine statue with your own hands, then organize the villagers to hold the appropriate ritual. Remember! It must be done sincerely!"

Pioneering Wisdom: "In the end, you will perform a Kagura Dance and use the gathered faith to consecrate the statue. At that time, I will descend a portion of my divine consciousness to inhabit the statue and establish an anchor of faith. Do you understand?"

Hermes was not unfamiliar with the power of faith.

Even if he had not studied it before, after coming into contact with Teyvat, he had more or less grasped some knowledge related to the path of faith.

After modifying the practices surrounding Teyvat's Statue of the Seven, he had roughly formed a faith system of his own.

Even a signature divine art of the path of faith like the Divine Descent Technique had been effortlessly created by Hermes himself.

Warring States Witch: "I understand, Lord Hermes. I will begin preparing at once."

After saying that, Kikyo went offline.

Multi-Fandom Great Female Protagonist: "How nice, Hermes. You already have a pretty shrine maiden, Missy, who'll perform a Kagura Dance just for you."

Multi-Fandom Great Female Protagonist: "But speaking of Missies who serve as one's miko..."

Luo Qianqiu recalled the golden-eyed little girl who had cautiously tried to approach her, and she could not help sinking into thought.

If even her Fellow Villager could do this, then could she also recruit some of the female protagonists she had watched on-screen in her previous life within this Comprehensive Anime World?

Make them her miko and have them perform pleasing Kagura Dances for her?

Now that she thought about it!

The moment the idea arose, Luo Qianqiu felt eager to give it a try.

Multi-Fandom Great Female Protagonist: "@Pioneering Wisdom, Hermes, Fellow Villager, could you share some knowledge about faith?"

Multi-Fandom Great Female Protagonist: "Starry-eyed.jpg"

She, Luo Qianqiu, had power and Divinity—so why could she not become a god?

Pioneering Wisdom: "...I sorted it out and put it in the Mall. Check for yourself what knowledge you need, then exchange for it yourself."

Still.

Knowledge about faith?

Hermes wondered whether he ought to expand and delve deeper into that area.

The path of faith was also a grand path. If he researched it thoroughly, absorbed its essence, and incorporated it into his own path, that seemed like a good approach as well.

At that thought, Hermes recalled a treasure of a newcomer in the Chat Group.

Pioneering Wisdom: "@Intermittent Amnesia, Index, do any of the Grimoires you recorded contain knowledge related to faith?"

One Hundred Three Thousand Volumes of Grimoires might not sound like much.

But one had to know that every Grimoire recorded by Index was at least first-rate.

An ordinary person could be driven stupid by the power contained within the knowledge after seeing merely a tiny portion of it.

Of course, if you meant that reading all One Hundred Three Thousand Volumes of Grimoires and fully mastering them would let you become a Demon God or something... well, dreams had everything.

Intermittent Amnesia: "Eh, does Lord Hermes need something from me? Oh, you need Grimoires related to faith!"

Sardinia.

Inside a seaside villa, Index swallowed the cream strawberry pudding before her in a single bite, then revealed a heartfelt, blissful smile.

After receiving remote guidance from Group Leader Luo Qianqiu and Hermes, Index had directly shaken off the pursuers behind her, left Academy City far behind, and settled down in Sardinia, this tourist destination.