Simultaneous Travel: Becoming a Legend in the Heavens.

Chapter 531 The Sword Saint's Request

Something is wrong.

When Lu Ke got up from the warm and soft embrace, he looked at the women lying haphazardly around him and felt a sense of guilt and trouble that he hadn't felt in a long time.

It wasn't because the "wise man" regretted punishing the witches, or because the witches hadn't served him well enough; in fact, the witches tasted quite good.

The desire for conquest was well satisfied when stacking the two world bosses, "Greed Witch" Echidona and "Deception Witch" Pandora, one in the light and one in the dark. The two legal lolis, "Pride Witch" Typhon and "Gluttony Witch" Daphne, were also quite good. It was also fun to watch "Wrath Witch" Minerva gradually become docile and obedient, and "Sloth Witch" Sekhmet become unusually proactive.

Camilla, the "Lustful Witch," is even more impressive. Her beauty is among the best of all the beautiful witches, and her power, "Faceless Bride," is very fitting for the current scene. Luke is having a great time.

Rather, the trouble lies with the eighth person who barged in halfway through.

Luke covered his head and glanced at Satella, the "Witch of Jealousy" who looked exactly like Emilia and was only wearing a black veil. He felt a headache coming on.

After the stalemate with the dragon, Satella instinctively chased after the sealed body. With Echidna unconscious and the Sanctuary barrier destroyed, the "Witch of Jealousy" easily invaded the area.

Lu Ke was having a great time playing, and with so many people around, he couldn't tell them apart, so he just handed it to them...

Although he doesn't place much importance on relationships between men and women, he still has principles to some extent.

How about we turn back time a while and pretend nothing happened?

"Kid, do you know you've made a mistake?"

Luke slapped the House of Commons twice, expressing his dissatisfaction with its occasional unauthorized actions that bypassed the House of Lords, and then patted it affectionately, like a doting father.

"I'll let you off this time, but if you dare to do this again, I'll... let you off again."

Just as he was wondering if the witch could offer a seven-day no-questions-asked refund, a pair of warm arms wrapped around Lu Ke from behind, pressing against his back.

"Don't worry about such things. The 'Great Sage' no longer exists. Of the original three heroes, only the Divine Dragon Polkenica and the first Sword Saint Red remain."

Echidona, the first to awaken as the master of the spiritual world, nuzzled Luke's cheek, her voice gentle, her eyes carrying a hint of something strange.

"That's amazing, you're completely unaffected?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ke raised an eyebrow, closed his eyes to sense it for a moment, and then opened them with a hint of surprise.

All traces of the "Great Sage's" existence have vanished, as if this person had never existed in the world. Things related to him have also undergone slight changes, filling in the gaps in a self-consistent manner.

It's somewhat like "Beluga" devouring someone's existence, or "Pandora" altering reality, but it's flawless and without any loopholes.

"It seems you understand. Actually, I should forget about this matter, but after establishing a connection with you, and with the remnants of the Book of Wisdom, I still have some vague memories. Others probably don't remember it at all."

Echidona smiled and slowly explained the reason: "This world is single-threaded, there are no parallel worlds, it is a picture book that can be read in one go, there are only changes in the world line, there are no possible branches."

Luke stroked his chin: "So, the 'Great Sage' is Subaru Natsuki himself?"

That does make sense. In the Tower of Sages, the Great Sage's apprentice, Sage Shaula, recognized that Subaru Natsuki's soul was the same as his master's. Furthermore, the tree planted by the Great Sage played a decisive role in the original "Battle of the White Whale."

From a setting perspective, although there are characters like "Star Singers" in this world who can foresee the future, the accuracy and precision of their predictions are quite poor, let alone predicting the future more than four hundred years from now.

The only thing that can accurately predict the future is Echidna's power, the Book of Wisdom. However, even the Book of Wisdom has many limitations, so it's not surprising that Subaru Natsuki traveled back in time to find the "Great Sage".

"To be precise, it's the future Subaru Natsuki in the worldline recorded in the Book of Wisdom, where you are not present."

Echidona played with her hair, running it back and forth across Luke's neck, and spoke with a hint of regret about the original timeline's story.

"He was supposed to be drawn into time more than four hundred years ago in a future event, befriend the dragon and the first sword saint, and come into contact with Satella, who has the same appearance as Emilia... Even though Emilia's appearance was assimilated by Satella, he fell in love with the past Satella because of the future Emilia. Tsk tsk, what an inexplicable cycle."

Echidona sighed and continued, "In short, under Pandora's manipulation, Subaru Natsuki created a psychological vulnerability in Satella, who was originally without any flaws. This ultimately caused the 'Witch Factor' to go berserk, and the 'Witch of Envy' devoured half the world. He was forced to join forces with Shenron and the First Sword Saint to seal the 'Witch of Envy'..."

As a result, due to the intervention of Lu Ke and Sato Kazuma, Natsuki Subaru's art style has gone a bit astray. He is no longer a loser who makes a comeback through "return from death," but is closer to the traditional RPG type of a hero who fights monsters and levels up.

Although I haven't made much progress in being a useless person due to my current profession... at least I'm not as arrogant and conceited as I used to be, getting beaten up and then becoming smart for a while, then becoming stupid again, getting beaten up again, and then becoming smart again in a cycle.

The possibility of her being a "Great Sage" is completely gone. The reason for Satella's "witch factor" going berserk has changed from "madness for love" to "witch" who went mad in extreme grief and anger after her friends died one by one.

Luke breathed a sigh of relief and gave Satella top-notch emotional support, while also removing the "witch factor" from her body.

As long as this thing exists, it is destined to be targeted by the "origin of the world." This is not due to the will of the world, but rather an irresistible instinct.

The reason why the "Deceptive Witch" and the "Envy Witch" are able to live is that one relies on her power to conceal her true nature, and the other is simply too powerful to be killed.

With one worry settled, Lu Ke stretched and looked outside. Although time had slowed down, almost a day had passed in the outside world.

He looked at the smiling Echidna and the other witches who were still fast asleep, and stroked his chin.

…………

After Rem dealt with the "Bhikkhu of Greed" and the "Bhikkhu of Gluttony," Priscilla encountered the "Bhikkhu of Wrath" giving a passionate speech at the main entrance. This "Bhikkhu of Sin" could transmit the harm she suffered to those whose emotions she infected.

Priscilla didn't bother with any tactics; she simply used her power to send bricks flying, unleashing a torrent of magic. The flames of the "Sun Sword" enveloped the sky, eventually setting the entire royal city ablaze!

Princess Sun originally didn't have that much magic power, but thanks to someone's tireless efforts at the mansion, her magical power is now unprecedented, second only to the "Witch of Envy" and the "Sword Saint" in overall strength.

Besides burning souls, the "Yang Sword" also has the characteristic of only burning what the holder wants to burn. The part of the soul that the "Angry Archbishop" corrupted was burned directly, and she lost her life in an instant when "Empathy" failed.

Along with them, a massive number of witch cultists within the royal city perished, as well as some of the rebels who followed Al.

The final "Bhikkhu of Sloth," Petyrcius, completely dominated the game.

The half-elf, whose original name was Jus, was only at the level of an ordinary person in terms of adaptability to the "witch factor," and did not exert the power of the "witch factor" at all, making him the weakest "archbishop of sin."

With Priscilla having dealt with the "finger" and Roswaal, who had read the Gospels, prepared for the worst, and Emilia being an elven sorcerer herself, they had no chance to struggle.

Beatrice, however, mourned for a while for the passing of her old friend.

All three great monsters except for the "Great Rabbit" were successfully defeated, and the four "Baptists of Sin" who invaded the royal city died silently, also annihilating almost all the witch cultists in the process.

The capital city, which had expected heavy casualties and even a massacre, discovered during its headcount that only a few dozen people had died—a true miracle.

What happened next was even more amazing.

A beautiful girl with long, light blue hair, who calls herself the "Goddess of Water," arrives and, as if joking, resurrects people who have recently died.

Such an incredible miracle left those who witnessed it speechless, and they believed Aqua's words, truly venerating her as the "Goddess of Water."

The original strongest healer, Phyllis, became Aqua's priestess, while those who were resurrected became fanatical followers of the Axis cult.

After Aqua proudly declared herself Luke's friend and a hero who defeated the "Black Serpent," her reputation skyrocketed, and she received a smooth passage through the ranks. In just a few hours, the Axis Cult grew rapidly, its faith spreading throughout the entire royal city and even expanding outwards, almost to the point that the entire population was converting. This surprised and caught Aqua off guard.

Upon realizing that the curse had been lifted, the Sword Saint immediately ceased his hunting of magical beasts throughout the world and rushed to the desert to help the dragon defeat the "Envy Witch" and reseal her.

With things having developed to this point, it's no longer in doubt who the ultimate winner is.

Under the witness of the Sages' Council, Crusch announced with a stiff face that she was giving up the competition for the throne. She had no choice but to give up, as she was powerless to defeat even a "white whale," while the maid under the opposing side could be killed in an instant. The actual gap was so large that it was despairing.

Priscilla nodded haughtily, acknowledging that Luke's men were somewhat useful and had outperformed her in this contest. In any case, her competition with Luke was just for fun.

Thus, the decision for Luke to become the new king was made before the actual king had even returned.

The elders of the Sages' Guild couldn't help but sigh, they had thought the royal selection ceremony would take a long time to finalize, but it was over in no time.

A long day has come to an end.

Given that the royal city was damaged and would take time to repair, after successfully reuniting, Kazuma Sato and the others went to Astrea's house to rest at Reinhard's invitation.

Emilia hesitated for a while, but didn't refuse. A little shyly, she followed the crowd and went over there.

The victory celebration was quite a lively affair. Even without inviting other guests, there were enough people to go. The Sword Saint family certainly didn't lack money, and all sorts of delicious food and wine were served in turn, making it quite luxurious.

Reinhard, the host and part-time Luke Knight, summoned the guests. Ram, Emilia, and Rem were talking quietly, the latter two with slightly flushed faces. Beatrice, holding Puck, looked at the door from time to time, looking bored. Priscilla sat in the main seat drinking. Roswaal circled around Aqua, trying to ask for detailed information about the "resurrection".

After drinking, Kazuma Sato started bragging about his and Subaru Natsuki's bravery in their battle against "Big Rabbit," and also introduced the members of his team to the others.

Darkness, not yet revealing her masochistic tendencies in front of outsiders, behaved elegantly and properly. Megumin, as always, introduced herself in her chuunibyou style as "the foremost burst mage of the Crimson Demon Clan." The most eye-catching of all was, of course, the newly minted "Water Goddess" Aqua.

The others originally held this otherworldly goddess, who was rumored to be sacred and capable of performing "miracles," in great awe.

As a result, the mentally challenged goddess did not maintain her dignified image for long before she was attracted by all kinds of delicious food and wine. After drinking a few bottles of wine, she began to go crazy and started to educate others about her doctrines.

Phrases like "Axis followers can do anything, and if they can't, it must be the world's fault," "Running away is also a victory," "You'll regret it no matter what when you hesitate, so choose what makes you happy," and "God loves the world, so everything is equal. Whether you have big breasts or small breasts, as long as you're not an undead or a demon, love is enough."

And most importantly...

"Eris's breasts are padded!!!"

As soon as Luke entered the room, he heard Aqua loudly exposing her junior, and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Haven't you learned your lesson yet, Aqua? Have you forgotten the time you were surrounded and attacked?"

Like a stone thrown into a still pond, Luke's sudden appearance immediately made him the center of the storm, and he was greeted repeatedly by a group of people with shining eyes.

"Luke! Where were you when we needed you most?!"

"Senior, why did you suddenly disappear?"

"You've kept me waiting for so long..."

"You're finally back, Prince Luke. Ram and Rem weren't worried about you."

…………

Amid a series of voices expressing worry, reproach, or concern, Lu Ke picked at his ear and clicked his tongue lightly.
"Don't bombard me with so many questions at once. I have my reasons for leaving. While you were fighting a bloody battle, I was also fighting hard."

While others only face one or two enemies, he has to take on seven witches single-handedly. Who can say he isn't working hard!

Lu Ke looked around and smiled slightly at the people around him. "Although I wasn't here, I saw everything you did. In any case, you all deserve praise."

Kazuma Sato pouted resentfully: "Don't think you can get away with saying nice things. You won't escape punishment."

Reinhard brought over a case of fine wine at the opportune moment, laughing heartily, "How about we have a drinking contest, with His Highness Luke taking on all of us by himself?"

Priscilla opened her folding fan and turned her head away in disdain: "What a boring thing to do."

Reinhard smiled slightly and calmly explained, "The main punishment isn't making him drink, but rather Prince Luke's 'drunken confession,' such as what he desires most, what he cares about most, or what he likes most..."

"Thinking about it carefully, it does sound quite interesting."

"Indeed, I didn't mean anything by it, I just wanted to drink!"

"I...I think drinking is a kind of punishment, um...punishment..."

Priscilla interrupted Reinhard, a look of eager anticipation in her eyes, and the other women tacitly agreed.

…………

Three hours later.

Of all the people who had fallen haphazardly, only Luke and Reinhard remained seated.

Watching the Sword Saint calmly down another large glass of strong liquor, Lu Ke casually tapped the table.

"You specifically requested 'alcohol protection'?"

Reinhard smiled sheepishly. "I'm very sorry, but without doing this, I wouldn't be able to deal with the magic you cast on the drinks."

"Among these women, there are plenty who can drink endlessly. You can't achieve your goal without using some tricks."

Luke glanced at Reinhard: "You've gone to the trouble of requesting a blessing just to speak with me alone. Is there something you want to say?"

"..."

Reinhard was silent for a moment, then gave a bitter smile: "As expected, it couldn't be hidden. To my shame, I wasn't able to help Your Highness much with the royal selection ceremony because of my father. I really feel ashamed of my trust in you."

Lu Ke shook his head understandingly: "It's okay. I expected this to happen. It's like the old master who wiped out Quanxing, the nameless guy who was wandering around with full health, the bald cloak who was on sale at the supermarket, the superpowered person who was hard-controlled by coffee jelly... It's a very common thing. There's no need to be harsh. So what do you want to say?"

"While it's a bit shameless to make demands without having earned enough merit, if I'm not mistaken, you probably won't stay in Lugnica for long, and might be leaving soon, right?"

Luke nodded slightly, confirming Reinhardt's statement.

The Sword Saint gave another bitter laugh, his eyes sharpening as he solemnly addressed Lu Ke:
"Then, I hope we can have a fight before you leave."

Luke: ...

These days, there aren't many people as brave as this.

(End of this chapter)