Some people believed that the Goddess of the Underworld truly existed, while others held the opposite view. To people nowadays, the existence of such a Goddess of the Underworld was simply too ethereal.
It looks like Ereshkigal has already left... I wonder where on earth she went?
Lan Ze stood among the crowd, looking at the blockade ahead and muttering to himself, his heart filled with confusion.
He could only pray that he would be able to see her again in the game after this... Thinking of this, Lan Ze turned around and quietly slipped away from the bustling crowd, planning to stop by the convenience store to buy some things before heading back.
He walked down the empty road, recalling everything that had happened today, and suddenly felt a somewhat unreal sense.
Ever since crossing over, Lan Ze had actually wondered whether he might someday become a Master or meet certain Heroic Spirits, especially since the world he now inhabited genuinely possessed Heroic Spirits and magi.
Yet as so many years passed, let alone Heroic Spirits, he hadn't even laid eyes on a single magus.
Originally, he had almost forgotten about this whole matter, but he hadn't expected that today, everything seemed to have changed.
After buying his things in the convenience store, Lan Ze left with a plastic shopping bag.
The street was utterly deserted, solitary streetlights stretching onward to the end of the road, and Lan Ze walked all alone along the vacant path.
Suddenly, another set of footsteps came from ahead, and a man wearing a black robe passed him in the opposite direction.
Lan Ze frowned slightly, lowering his head a bit.
He always felt like this uncle was staring at him, giving off a sensation as if he had been locked onto by a hunter—a feeling that made him inexplicably uncomfortable.
Just as the two of them were about to pass each other side by side, the man's footsteps paused slightly.
"Ho..."
He turned his head to look at the youth behind him, his eyes lighting up slightly. Within that tranquil gaze, a gleam of interest surfaced for the very first time.
Applying such complex protective magecraft upon oneself—this youth was an unfathomable magus.
He had run into an expert!
He had originally just come out to travel and relax, and upon seeing that news report, he had merely dropped by out of sheer boredom. He hadn't expected to see the Goddess of the Underworld, but this was an unexpected harvest.
The corner of the man's mouth curled into a curve, and he turned, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked in the direction Lan Ze had vanished.
Returning home, Lan Ze slipped into his slippers, turned on the light, and walked into the living room.
Sajyou Manaka had clearly already left; she only ever went back at night, and since the two of them lived in the same apartment building, visiting was indeed quite convenient.
Back at home, Lan Ze pulled open his computer chair and sat down, glancing at the follow-up reports of this incident.
Unfortunately, it seemed this news story had no further developments. Lan Ze closed the web page and gave a small yawn.
He had stayed up too late over the past two days, and right then, sleepiness crept into his body like a drill. He struggled with his eyelids for a moment, then got up and crawled into bed.
His field of vision gradually grew hazy, and Lan Ze's eyes slowly closed.
His vision plunged into darkness.
In the dark, red petals bloomed silently, red light gently flickering across Lan Ze's eyelids. Immediately afterward, a sensual voice drifted lightly into his ear:
"You look terribly sleepy. Do you need me to come back another time?"
Lan Ze hesitated for a moment, briefly suspecting that something was wrong with his ears, but as a faint fragrance drifted into the tip of his nose, it forced him to open his eyes.
What appeared before his eyes was no longer his previous room. Looking around, the surroundings were hazy and gray—there was nothing at all, save for an older woman wearing a sexy bodysuit who was half-crouching in front of Lan Ze, a head of long purple hair naturally cascading down to her slender, delicate waist.
"Where is this?!" Lan Ze gave a start, sitting straight up and looking around in astonishment.
She smiled charmingly, just like an approachable older neighbor.
"Why are you so surprised? Didn't I say during the day that I would come find you tonight?"
Lan Ze's mind was in a bit of a mess right now.
He didn't know whether this was a dream or reality.
If it were a dream, it was altogether too realistic, wasn't it?
The woman appearing right in front of him felt practically as real as flesh and blood.
At this thought, Lan Ze subconsciously raised his head to look at the woman standing before him.
She stood on a ground where Equinox Flowers bloomed. Her voluptuous, curvaceous, and proud figure was wrapped in that purplish-black leather armor, which only further accentuated the woman's seductive physique, making it difficult to tear one's gaze away from her.
Come to think of it, if this was a dream... would it be fine to do pretty much anything?
When Lan Ze thought of this, his gaze couldn't help but linger on Scathach for a couple of extra glances.
"Is this a dream... or reality?" Lan Ze asked.
Scathach pondered for a moment. "You can treat it as a dream, or you can treat it as reality."
Saying this, she seemed to notice the youth's gaze, and the corners of her mouth twitched upward into a sexy curve. "You can just think of it as a dream, and then..."
She paused, walking slowly up to Lan Ze. "If it's a dream, what do you want to do right now?"
Whether it was his imagination or not, as she said this, Lan Ze always felt that a peculiar kind of seduction lingered within the woman's crystal-clear red eyes, like a demon's whisper guiding others into sin.
"If it's a dream," Lan Ze took a deep breath, "then let it be a dream."
Scathach was taken aback.
A moment later, she eyed Lan Ze with a hint of a smile. "Hah... It looks like before I can teach you how to protect yourself, I first need to help you cultivate a fearless heart."
Lan Ze's reaction was even more timid than she had imagined.
According to her original thoughts, she had expected that he would probably act recklessly because it was a dream, committing certain acts that followed his own desires.
Yet now it seemed she had apparently overthought things just a moment ago; even though she stood right in front of Lan Ze, the other party didn't dare to make any rash moves.
"Does that mean this really isn't a dream?" Lan Ze snapped to alertness, staring at Scathach's smiling, exquisite face. "You invaded my dreamscape?"
Watching Scathach give a light, unmasked nod, Lan Ze couldn't help but take a deep breath.
That game... could it be connected to reality?
First Ereshkigal ran out of the game, and now Scathach...
What about next time? It couldn't possibly be that even Tiamat could run out, could it? Lan Ze self-deprecatingly mocked inwardly, feeling that everything happening right now was far too illusory and somewhat unreal.
"Why are you still acting so surprised now of all times?"
Scathach looked at Lan Ze in bewilderment, then continued, "Didn't I say today that I would come find you?"
The problem is I didn't know the characters in the game actually invaded reality, and on top of that ran straight into my dreamscape... Lan Ze mentally complained.
Just as Lan Ze was still pondering these messy matters, his ears suddenly caught the crisp, pleasant sound of weapons clashing. Raising his head, he saw Scathach casually toss a red spear down in front of him.
"Instead of dwelling on such boring questions, we'd better hurry up and start training."
Lan Ze started. "Huh?"
"Didn't you take me as your master today?"
Scathach said in a gentle tone, "As your master, I naturally have the obligation to help my disciple train and improve his strength."
Lan Ze's heart skipped a beat, and he slowly raised his head. "...Just to ask, by training, do you mean I have to fight you?"
As he raised his head, his gaze couldn't help but linger on the woman's graceful figure for quite a while.
Even though it wasn't his first time seeing this woman, Lan Ze still felt a sense of astonishment.
Yet he didn't dare to be the least bit careless, because this woman was the Queen of the Land of Shadows; if he ignored her combat prowess just because of her beauty, he would definitely suffer a huge loss.
Scathach's appearance was indeed peerlessly beautiful, but when it came to training disciples, she could be described as iron-fisted and ruthless.
"Naturally it's to fight me. Aren't you stating the obvious?" Scathach gripped the red spear, its tip pointing straight at Lan Ze.
"If you don't pick up your weapon quickly, you're going to die, you know."
"Yet I feel like picking up my weapon will also get me killed." Lan Ze wanted to negotiate further.
Yet almost at the very same time, Scathach had already raised her red spear.
The red spear pierced through Lan Ze's heart.
Lan Ze slowly opened his eyes.
"Are you all right?" Scathach asked with concern, not a shred of the worry in those red eyes being feigned.
Yet Lan Ze immediately snapped to alertness, instinctively reaching out to touch his chest, only to find no wounds whatsoever.
"Don't bother looking. I told you, this is reality, but it's also just a dream." Scathach squatted beside Lan Ze with her knees pulled up, resting her chin on her hands as she looked down at him. "Dreams repeat and cycle endlessly, as long as I wish it."
"Miss Scathach—"
Scathach tilted her head slightly. "Is there something wrong with how you're addressing me?"
"Alright, Master, shall we perhaps change our training method?" Lan Ze asked tentatively.
To be honest, having Scathach stab him right through the heart like that had genuinely frightened Lan Ze somewhat.
Even though he kicked the bucket without even feeling any pain, Lan Ze still carried a bit of psychological trauma.
"This is the highest-efficiency training method. Very well, since you're already fine, get up. We're continuing training!"
Scathach's voice transitioned from gentle to stern in less than a second, and the soft smile on her face vanished without a trace. She stood up, pointing the red spear in her hand at Lan Ze's heart.
"Struggle hard, until you can formally resist me!"
Lan Ze had no choice but to pick up his weapon. "Bring it on!"
The moment his words fell, Scathach's red spear stabbed toward Lan Ze accompanied by a sound like tearing wind. Lan Ze's heart hammered wildly, and he lowered his head slightly, dodging the strike by a hair's breadth.
Yet giving him almost no breathing room, Scathach's stern voice sounded once more: "This is hardly the time to relax!"
The red spear in her hand stabbed straight ahead like a swimming dragon.
Time passed in silence. Lan Ze didn't know how many times he had "died." From initially shouting and dodging Scathach's attacks in a panic, he had now reached a point where he could barely fend them off.
Of course, this was also achieved only because Scathach was holding back.
"How is it? Do you feel your own progress?"
Lan Ze lay flat amidst the blooming sea of red flowers, panting heavily. Scathach sat beside him, looking down at the youth.
"Thank you..." Lan Ze said between breaths, his gaze fixed on Scathach.
Because he was lying down, from Lan Ze's angle he had a perfect view of the woman's graceful figure and the two heavy weights standing out prominently.
Even under such circumstances, Lan Ze couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
As expected, they're huge. Shishou is a woman who understands the hearts of men.
"I am your master; helping you is a matter of course, there's no need to thank me." Scathach shook her head.
As if suddenly remembering something, Lan Ze adjusted his breathing slightly and spoke up: "By the way, can I ask you a question, Master?"
He had just suddenly thought that since Scathach had also come out of the game, perhaps she might know something about Ereshkigal?
"Go ahead. As your master, I will tell you everything I know, as long as it's something you want to understand." Scathach looked back into Lan Ze's eyes, those red eyes harboring a strange, alluring charm that made one's heartbeat involuntarily accelerate.
After gazing into those seemingly gentle red eyes for a moment, Lan Ze felt his face growing somewhat warm. He forcefully regained his composure, pulling his gaze back and compelling himself to calm down.
Then he asked, "Master, have you ever heard of the Goddess of the Underworld?"
"The Goddess of the Underworld?"
Scathach raised a brow slightly. "How did you end up getting involved with her?"
"Does that mean... you know her too?!" Lan Ze asked, pleasantly surprised.
Originally, he hadn't held any expectations, but he hadn't expected that asking offhandedly would bring an unexpected harvest.
Yet under Lan Ze's expectant gaze, Scathach regretfully shook her head and said, "I do not know the Goddess of the Underworld. When all is said and done, every mythology has its so-called Goddess of the Underworld—which one are you talking about?"
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