Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Then Alice didn't hesitate to poke his wound.

“That depends on when Chaldea arrives in Mesopotamia,” Alice said calmly. “Given someone’s poor gaming skills, Chaldea should still be in a period of rest after the adventure. And while in conventional theory future time points are meaningless to past history, it’s different on this chessboard.”

"This chessboard restricts the large-scale interference of spacetime... or rather, all spacetime along the entire timeline is constantly being interfered with by the two saints—it's a luxury for us reincarnators, whose life level is more than one level lower than the saints, to try to interfere with the operation of time, let alone the natives living on the chessboard."

She made a gesture, silently drawing a small amount from her rapidly replenishing energy pool within her body. Then, seven…eight orbs of light, positioned at different heights and on different planes, appeared above the projection of the Mesopotamian plain. These were Chaldea, Singularity F, and Singularities One through Six—though they appeared small, their mass and size were roughly equivalent to Mesopotamia, the seventh singularity!

"I'm not sure if the worldview of this 'Human Order Restoration' has an original text, or what principles that original text operates on. At least in this world, the so-called 'spiritual particle transfer' is actually a super long-distance jump between spatial bubbles. Including Chaldea, these nine spacetime locations have become independent in this 'Human Order Burning' event—independent, but still within the same system. And because of this, in other singularities, or within Chaldea, the effects of every second of time consumption will be realistically reflected in different areas."

"In the previous singularity, namely the Singularity of the Holy City and the Pharaoh, some characters, despite having the gifts of the forerunners, still lacked achievements. As a result, the Chaldea Masters and their party had to spend a lot of extra time to integrate the team and establish confidence after returning to their base."

Zheng Zha immediately started coughing.

He knew what she was talking about, in the Sixth Singularity. Hinako Akuta and Ritsuka Fujimaru, who arrived after Flora, didn't actually do much. The most troublesome group of enemies had already been successfully dealt with by Flora before their arrival, and those who hadn't been dealt with had been given solutions by her.

And precisely because of this, the two Chaldea Masters essentially became the ones reaping the rewards in this intervention. Fujimaru Ritsuka fared relatively well, easily winning over the Pharaoh and some Knights of the Round Table—who were originally hostile to the Chaldea forces represented by Flora—thanks to her unreasonable Servant affinity. As for Akuta Hinako… her tactical skills were indistinguishable from Zheng Zha's strategic planning skills with the assistance of a wise man.

It's not unreasonable that Zheng Zha would influence her as the 'character'. After all, in terms of character traits, these two are probably only different in gender and appearance. And because of Akuta Hinako's somewhat counterproductive help during the operation, the two Chaldea Masters' journey to restore humanity within the Sixth Singularity was fraught with difficulties. And when Flora sealed the Tower of the End at the cost of her life, rendering all their efforts futile in a fait accompli, one can only imagine how much confidence they truly had left...

One of the members of the Central Continent Team interfered with an ordinary clerk within Chaldea. Through investigating surveillance footage and cleaning records, he easily discovered that Fujimaru Ritsuka had a nightmare all night and shed approximately three or four ounces of tears after returning from the Sixth Singularity. As for Hinako Akuta, whom Zheng Zha could influence, although she maintained a calm and indifferent demeanor throughout, all the reincarnators present knew very well that she couldn't help but panic inside after returning to her room!

For this reason, the Masters of Chaldea decided to spend some time deepening their understanding and adjusting their mindset before heading to Mesopotamia. They traveled to the restored Singularities, cultivated relationships with the Servants of the same era, and assisted them in completing some minor but highly valuable cleanup tasks. The result of this action was that even they themselves didn't know how much 'time' they would spend in these Singularities!

There might be many, or few, but ultimately there is no definite value. This uncertainty is particularly detrimental to a certain wise man among the members of the Central Continent Team, a team accustomed to devising plans and intending to sabotage a well-known, non-reincarnation-powerful team!

Alice snapped her fingers, and after finishing her explanation, she casually retrieved the eight energy orbs. The current situation was quite clear—the existing forces on the Mesopotamian plains were nothing more than a group of native gods and a group of natives. If they could descend in their true forms, all of these guys combined probably wouldn't be enough to defeat the group of true gods in the Central Continent team.

The problem, however, is that the reincarnators simply cannot, and dare not, descend in their true forms. At most, they can use avatars, projections, or proxies to operate on this land, lest they be crushed to dust by the aftershocks of the sages' struggle for power, leaving them with no room to maneuver.

—But the problem is, if we want to unleash power, we need a vessel to support it. And as things stand, apart from Alice and Flora, who was thrown onto this land through special channels, the others can only be described as having the will but not the power, or even having the power but not the will!

Zheng Zha's target of influence is Akuta Hinako, whose intelligence is on par with Zheng Zha's. Adding two idiots together won't create a positive result; instead, it will create an even worse idiot. Aside from Alice and Zheng Zha, and a few members who haven't yet started the 'game,' the remaining Zhongzhou Team Reincarnators can only influence a bunch of insignificant nobodys!

The clerks at Chaldea were considered relatively well-off, and the cleaners could be considered mediocre at best. Many more members, however, had their chosen roles destroyed or severely injured in the initial control room explosion after making their intervention choices; they were now essentially a bunch of half-dead or undead lying in hibernation pods!

This was terrible, but strangely, Chu Xuan, who could be considered the 'instigator,' probably didn't think this development was so bad. Because no matter how much chaos the reincarnators caused with their bizarre actions, he remained a detached observer. He offered no opinion, nor made any corrections. It was as if everything had little to do with him; he didn't interfere in the slightest from beginning to end!

There must be some pitfalls involved, but since Chu Xuan didn't directly respond, the others could only pretend to be ignorant. And perhaps it was precisely for this reason that this meeting was held at this time, and Alice raised this issue.

“I request external assistance.” Her gaze swept over several team members who had not yet started the 'game'. “The Masters of Chaldea must arrive in Mesopotamia ahead of schedule. For this reason, I propose adding a new 'supporting character' at this point in time.”

She received no objections.

Chapter 8: Kings, Magicians, and Goddesses

Meanwhile, in Uruk, before the throne, as most of the day's affairs were dealt with and the audience withdrew, giving the king a moment of leisure, a pinkish-purple magic circle silently appeared below the golden steps, accompanied by the quiet unfolding of pale flower petals. In the shimmering glow, a white figure draped in a long robe took shape.

The spellcaster's name is Merlin, the Merlin from British mythology. Logically, it shouldn't exist in this era because it hasn't been born yet, but the summoning ritual of the King of Uruk allowed it to slip through the chain of cause and effect, thus manifesting here as a Servant.

King Uruk summoned seven Servants, and Merlin took on the Caster class. Its publicly known identity is that of a court magician. However, since its summoning, it has mostly operated in secrecy, handling... secrets that are not convenient for many to know.

For example, this one right now.

"The seal on that one is intact, King Gilgamesh." Merlin gently touched the polished floor of the hall with his black wooden staff. His tone was as gentle and soft as ever. "The fourth god who descended merely glanced over there and did almost nothing else. Thanks to Him, Tiamat only slightly opened her eyes in her sleep, and her full awakening is still a long way off."

“I know.” The crimson-eyed king raised a brow. “But such an obvious thing doesn’t require you to make a special trip back. Speak, what other purpose do you have?”

"I heard that you sent an envoy to the Fourth Pillar God? And even hoped to forge an alliance?"

"This is the duty of a king—the god Mangotrend is not an evil god. Although He had never answered the prayers of believers before, He had also never brought any calamity. When He descended, He even protected a city-state. Therefore, He is a guest. And as a guest, He must be entertained."

“Mangolnd may not be an evil god, but the vessel he used to descend may not be. King Gilgamesh, your choice may not guarantee a good outcome.”

"Oh?" The crimson eyes transformed into snakes, and the tone rose slightly. "Although my clairvoyance is no longer useful, the memories remain. I have some observations of the journey to Chaldea. There were four people in the group. Let's leave Akuta Hinako aside. Mash Kyrielight is pure but lacks maturity. Fujimaru Ritsuka is overflowing with luck but has limited talent. However, Flora's performance during the journey truly impressed me."

"Decisive, concise, and resolute, though fortune may be against her, and both France and Rome are somewhat hesitant. But from Oceanus onward, I have already acknowledged her as the savior of humanity." The Golden King spoke clearly, his tone revealing undisguised admiration. "If she is an enemy, then I will personally behead her. If she is a friend…"

He frowned slightly, his tone shifting. "Very well, I don't have that many friends. Since she has already received divine power, she can't possibly be my servant. But apart from that, she is worthy of being my ally."

"Merlin, deceiving the king is a grave offense. Even if you bear a heavy responsibility, if you do not have sufficient and reasonable grounds to prove your claims, my opinion of you will decline."

His tone was calm, but the atmosphere in the hall subtly became a little heavier.

“A reason? Of course there is one,” Merlin said calmly. “The reason is that I have personally met her and know her, while what you, King Gilgamesh, have seen is merely a record of events. You may lack some understanding of some deeper information.”

Wang Wei raised her chin slightly, waiting for the court magician to explain further.

“King Gilgamesh, you should know the true nature of Tiamat, and you should also know the end of the Chaldean journey.” Merlin asked, then answered himself: “It is a beast, and the beast is actually human evil, something harmful to humanity. And above that, all human evil can also be seen as distorted or corrupted human love.”

"That's natural."

"Yes, that's natural. And that's why candidates for Grand rank like you and me, or Heroic Spirits currently holding Grand rank, can take this burning of humanity in stride. Because whether it's human evil or human love, it's ultimately just something that revolves around the existence of 'humanity.' 'Humanity' is the protagonist, and inevitably will be the protagonist. Therefore, no matter how thrilling the process or how arduous the journey, as long as 'humanity' remains, the final outcome is predetermined. Love and evil can transform into each other, and even beasts can become Servants to be driven by 'humanity.' The ending of the story is determined from the very first stroke; the only difference lies in the choice of the protagonist."

"........."

"Beasts are like this, and so are gods. All gods before us possessed their intellect and wisdom because of the existence of humanity. Without humans, gods would merely be empty objects, mindless planetary tentacles or conceptual incarnations in space. After all, gods only became complete because of the existence of humans. Because they gained their way of thinking and abilities from humans—"

Therefore, whether benevolent or malevolent, their attitude towards humanity has always been simply different forms of 'love'. And it is precisely for this reason that when humanity decides to abandon the gods, even the most powerful divine age will eventually come to an end. And even if the gods wish to destroy the world, ultimately, humanity will inevitably remain.

"...Merlin, you said some things you shouldn't have. Be careful your head doesn't fall off your neck when you leave the house."

"Haha, it's alright." Merlin waved his hand. "I am a dream demon, a dreamlike being. Even if I am cut by the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception connected to the Root, I still have ways to prolong my life... So, let's get back to the point. I personally met Miss Flora in the Sixth Singularity. I spent three whole days observing her, and another three whole days getting to know her, and finally came to a conclusion."

"She doesn't care about humanity, good, or evil. Although she is human herself, or at least appears to be, all she sees is the goal she wants to achieve."

"In her worldview, the concept of 'humanity' is not necessary. She may seem to be on the side of humanity now, but that's only because she has chosen the path of 'restoring humanity.' If she changes her mind when she finishes and sets her next goal as 'destroying humanity,' then her actions will not be delayed in the slightest."

"She looks like a human, in terms of appearance, figure, and movements. But her essence is more like something that transcends or is different from 'humanity.' And if she were to gain power while still retaining her personality, she would have the potential to become a catastrophe that is neither human evil nor human love—she would have the power to completely destroy all of human civilization."

"So you've decided to send her on her way at the Sixth Singularity? Before she becomes some kind of 'catastrophe' without weaknesses, let her shed the last drop of blood for humanity?" A playful smile appeared on the king's lips, and then—

“Your words are rife with prejudice, Merlin. I will not use your subjective opinions as a basis for action. Moreover—” The Golden King paused slightly. “To not seize opportunities when variables arise, but instead to weakly exclude them—such cowardly behavior is not what I approve of in a human being.”

"Haha, after all, I am a Servant now." The court mage chuckled, not bothered by the rebuttal. "Although I possess human emotions, those emotions are ultimately pseudo-creations drawn from dreams. I am now more of a Servant-half-dream demon than a half-human-half-dream demon. And Servants and mortals are ultimately different."

"Hmph, that reason is plausible. Merlin, you've preserved my opinion of you for now. But beyond that, you must still be responsible for your words." The king stretched out his hand, and a stone tablet floated up beside him and flew towards the court mage. "I have a task for you—set off now and head to the dense forest beyond the northern defenses to find the 'Clay Tablet of Destiny'."

"The clay tablet of destiny? Oh..." Merlin raised an eyebrow slightly, then understood. "I see. With the Three Goddess Alliance on the verge of collapse, it's indeed a bit inappropriate to leave that girl wandering alone in the wasteland and dense forest. So..."

"...Please allow me to take my leave."

It took the stone slab, its staff lightly touching the ground, and in the next instant, its form disintegrated as it had come, transforming into countless cherry blossom petals that drifted through the air and silently dissolved.

Wang lowered his eyes and said nothing more.

The casual conversation had already wasted too much of his time, and he still had many important matters to attend to.

In the instant he lowered his eyes, he clearly 'saw' a breeze sweeping past the outside of the temple!

A chill ran through me, so cold it was penetrating, like an invisible wind blowing from the underworld!

..............................

At the same time, inside the new temple of Imaniticia, as the two goddesses descended and began to converse, the mortal priests and witches immediately and respectfully departed. They sealed off the hearing and sight of the designated area, focusing their attention on matters that mortals should attend to. Occasionally, a few words drifted from the depths of the temple, but these at least not foolish individuals promptly dismissed them as background noise.

Mangtlund and Ishtar, two goddesses who descended to earth in mortal bodies, communicate in a way no different from that of ordinary mortals. And this manifests as…

"Name?"—A flat inquiry.

"Hmph, don't think you can boss me around just because you won!"

"Name?"—The question was tinged with energy fluctuations.

"...What do you mean by that?"

"Name?"—The sound of beating could be faintly heard amidst the energy fluctuations.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you then. My name is Ishtar!"

"Gender?"—The question returned to its normal, calm tone.

"Hey, are you ever going to stop...? Gods don't have genders. I'm a goddess now, a goddess!"

"Why did you attack me?"—The question remained calm.

"Why? Of course, it's to see which side you're planning to stand on! Don't you know that a number goddess has descended to this continent and formed an alliance to divide the world? Under these circumstances, the sudden appearance of a new one naturally requires my investigation..."

"Why did you attack me?"—A sense of danger crept into the voice once again.

"Why...? Didn't I just explain it clearly... Ugh! Take your hand away, take it away! Okay, okay, I'll tell you. I originally wanted to communicate with you properly, but when I saw you from afar, I felt like you were really asking for a beating. So, subconsciously..."

"Why did you attack me?"—The beating was accompanied by the crackling sound of electricity.

"I already said I don't know myself... Okay, I'll tell you the reason right away! Maybe it's a conflict of divine roles. You see, I'm the goddess of agriculture and you're the goddess of thunder and fire. Our innate compatibility is just not right... As for other reasons, I don't know either. You should know better than anyone else about this kind of thing. Maybe you just have a face that everyone laughs at... *sigh*!"

"Why did you stop after losing?"—The voice returned to its calm tone.

"Of course we have to stop after losing. We don't have any deep-seated hatred for each other, and we didn't start a divine war. Besides, you at least protected the inhabitants of a city-state... Fighting is fighting, but after the battle, I suddenly don't find you annoying anymore. So of course we're stopping now!"

“I see.” Flora withdrew her lightning-wrapped fingers. Before her, the goddess, who had just been downgraded to a 'harmless creature' in her assessment, was lying on the long table, humming contentedly—in the previous five minutes, Flora had skillfully used a massage technique buried deep in her memory to give this guy a full-body service. And now it seemed… the effect was quite good.

The flame-shaped bird on her shoulder cooed, its meaning unclear. The newly descended goddess tilted her head slightly, a mixture of satisfaction and slight disappointment in her heart.

This was a skill she had learned to integrate into the group, yet she had never used it in Chaldea. She didn't need it before the first spirit particle transfer, and after the first spirit particle transfer… nobody needed it.

The girl sighed inwardly.

"Ugh... my lower body is numb. If you weren't a goddess of equal rank to me, I would definitely give you a good beating." The black-haired Venus goddess struggled to get up from the table. She stretched, a clear sense of satisfaction on her face—she had chosen a truce during their final conversation outside the city. So, at Flora's invitation, she came to the temple as a guest. And since she was a guest, she naturally had to be entertained. As a gift for her hospitality, Flora didn't just whip out a bunch of delicacies; instead, she decided to give this guy a full-body massage.

...and ask a few questions.

“Alright, let’s get down to business.” Ishtar, now able to move again, leaped off the neat long table and sat down opposite Flora.

"Let's get back to the beginning. Which side do you plan to join? Or perhaps..."

Do you want to become the new side?

Section Nine: The Goddesses' Tea Party

Flora did not answer immediately.

She paused briefly, and the flame-shaped bird at her shoulder cooed. Just then, several unseen messengers, used for detection, returned from outside the hall and landed in her hands. The exchange of messages was completed in a very short instant.

She learned many things, including the existence of three hidden gods in addition to the three visible gods on this land. Although she didn't have the same level of insight into everything on this land as the reincarnators, she at least observed the existence of another three gods on this continent—and unlike the reincarnators who were so powerful that they disregarded those of slightly lower strength, she also considered another group of slightly weaker beings besides the manifest gods.

The timeline is basically set: the current point in time is the day Gilgamesh, the fifth king of the Uruk dynasty, failed to retrieve the elixir of immortality from the underworld and returned. The goddess of monsters descended afterward, creating a massive number of monsters to wipe out the Mesopotamian civilization. Only after that did several other goddesses gradually descend… the alliance of the three goddesses occurred much later.

In other words, the initial anomaly was caused by the goddess of beasts… perhaps that was Tiamat. And the other gods were actually descending in a chain reaction, similar to the Sixth Singularity… If that's the case, then the summoning ritual performed by King Gilgamesh might not have used the Holy Grail as an 'anchor point'. The previous plan needs to be revised; we shouldn't act rashly before the situation becomes clear…

However, I'm fairly certain that Tiamat, as the goddess who first brought calamity, is very likely the anomaly of the era who possesses the Anchor Grail. The other two goddesses who allied with her must have had other motives… after all, despite forming an alliance, only Tiamat actually carried out the work. And most importantly… why is Enkidu, who was resurrected, involved with Tiamat?

We need to gather more information... We must conduct probes within our capabilities...

Obtaining this information wasn't difficult, at least not for a deity at her level. The thought process required to process it was only a fleeting moment, roughly fifteen milliseconds.

Fifteen milliseconds is a considerable amount of time, even compared to the 'gods' of this world rather than the 'true gods' widely recognized in the multiverse. Fortunately, Ishtar, sitting opposite her, was so heavily influenced by her mortal body that she was still using human thinking to make judgments—no, perhaps it wasn't fortunate, since this characteristic of Ishtar had been clearly revealed in the recent outcome of the battle.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Flora reached out and casually used her matter-conversion ability to conjure tea, snacks, flowers, and other objects on the table to conceal the return of the unseen messengers. She casually picked up a wooden cup, took a sip, and continued, “I have only been in this era for a short time, and I do not intend to form an alliance with any party for the time being. Besides… I don’t really think I need to form an alliance with anyone.”