Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"Ah, um... no need to be so formal. Just call me Ritsuka, Tomoe-san."

The servant hesitated for less than half a second, then nodded.

"Hmm... Ritsuka."

Section 27 - First Cycle - Dawn

High above, Alice cast her gaze down from the table where she was the only one left.

[The limits of my interference are rising... I can project more and more power. It's practically confirmed that Fujimaru Ritsuka is one of the representatives. The only remaining task is to determine exactly who she is and what the path she chooses ultimately entails.]

Ah… if the Crimson Aura were to cease to exist, then, for true saints, would the existence of mortals truly be necessary? And if the mortal world were to lose its moon, its tides, its seasons, and the concepts and emotions derived from the moon—such as 'homesickness,' 'reminiscence,' 'separation,' and 'reunion'—would mortals still be able to continue to exist unimpeded in this vast cosmos?

She looked up at the distant horizon, higher than the highest heavens—she could still see the crimson torrent of humanity in that unknowable place. She could also sense that the crimson river that spanned countless dimensions was slightly dimmer than before, but not to an imperceptible degree.

When exactly did the Blood River begin to darken? — We don't know.

No related image could be retrieved from her memory, or rather, the color and shape of this thing simply couldn't be preserved in the memory of an intelligent life form. But Alice knew it had darkened, slightly darker than 'before' when she didn't know the exact time or place. And although she couldn't pinpoint the exact location of that 'before', she could roughly estimate that it must have been after the start of the Sacred Hunting Ritual.

The reason is unclear, but it's probably not something she should interfere with right now. This is a grand trend, a trend that permeates the entire multiverse. At most, she can only leverage this trend; creating it is an authority possessed only by beings above the spiritual level.

Her gaze shifted downwards, and she could clearly see numerous meteors, their paths concealed, falling towards Mesopotamia, the location of the Seventh Singularity. Among them were her pawns, her teammates, and her enemies—no, "enemies" might not be entirely accurate. The most fitting term would be 'competitors'.

Yes, the competitors are the Indian team, the Senzhou team, and the Celestial team, who could barely be considered a competitor—the most powerful Demon team hasn't shown any sign of coming yet. However, with the methods she's laid out and Chu Xuan handling the related matters, she should at least be able to ensure that the Demon team's arrival is delayed to an acceptable extent. Before that, she needs to help the team secure enough advantages and benefits.

Wills collided in the void—she wasn't afraid to expose herself, and her competitors weren't actually surprised by her presence. Except for the cowardly members of the Celestial Team, neither the Senzhou Team nor the Yinzhou Team deliberately suppressed their presence when her will waned—the light and shadow in her eyes shifted instantly, and two completely different worlds appeared in her perception!

It manifests as an independent sky and earth, but its essence is a colossal entity formed by the convergence of power and paths. This is a different form of existence from the true form of a deity. It emphasizes the path and embodies authority. Perhaps, in the eyes of the other, Alice, hidden in the unknown, also has a similar image. Perhaps... they can only simply perceive Alice's existence.

Of course, the former is more likely. This is because Alice had previously dealt with them by leveraging the prevailing trend, and now she also senses that they are on par with her in terms of level.

First, one side...

The Senzhou team's Ex appears in the void as a chain of nested galaxies. One layer after another, one upon another. Numerous civilizations reside atop each layer of galaxies, each possessing a stable and absolute order. At the very top of these layers of galaxies, several crystals representing the essence of the universe float silently, governing everything.

Although there were only a few crystals, their exact number was impossible to determine; Alice could only be certain that there were definitely no more than six. Whether it was four or five was uncertain—when Alice's will collided with them, the overlapping galaxy began to operate at high speed. Countless stellar forces erupted from it, transforming into various forms of interference to disrupt Alice's observation. And as Alice's will withdrew, she clearly saw hundreds, even thousands, of stellar civilizations shatter into fragments in the aftershocks, mercilessly crushed into dust.

Axe's way is a way of ruling that leans towards order. The superiors completely dominate the inferiors, and order completely extinguishes freedom. Its essence lies in tyranny and domination, which does not fundamentally conflict with Alice's way of change.

Then there's the other side...

On the other side of Alice's vision was Sesshouin Kiara of the Indiana team, and her manifestation in the void was a vast, flat kingdom with a round heaven and a square earth. Countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas sat high in the sky, eternally reciting profound scriptures and casting compassionate gazes upon the earth below. Countless vengeful spirits and hungry ghosts huddled on the ground, forever howling and cursing from the fiery pools and mountains of knives beneath the earth, unleashing their hatred upon the earth above.

The gods and Buddhas in the heavens merely watch, enjoying their pure joy and doing nothing else. The ghosts on earth merely curse, enduring calamities and suffering without concern for anything else. Between heaven and earth, pity and hatred intertwine, transforming into various natural disasters and strange phenomena, causing the mayflies dwelling on the earth to suffer all the pains of birth, old age, sickness, and death—the virtuous do not ascend to heaven, the wicked do not fall to earth. Good and evil entangle everyone equally, causing the successful to suffer separation from their families, the impoverished to live long and free from calamity, the virtuous to suffer lifelong illness, and the wicked to be childless—whether good or bad, nothing is ever truly perfect.

Sesshouin's path is the path of the solitary self. Her heart is a sea of ​​suffering, and no one can cross it. The sea of ​​suffering itself is formed from the countless intricate and intertwined emotions of all imperfect beings, and all colors emerge in her palm.

She didn't stop Alice's will from falling, but Alice chose to retreat on her own. Once that hand, which gathered all colors, fell, even Alice might have to experience a less-than-pleasant new life lasting several decades. And Alice didn't intend to fight it out without first realizing that their paths were incompatible.

They successfully repelled Alice, who was trying to uncover their true nature; however, Alice also managed to manipulate the timing of their descent. Furthermore, all three parties realized that they were not truly adversaries.

'Domination' and 'change' are not in conflict, nor are they compatible.

'Change' and 'for myself' are neither compatible nor conflicting.

Since we are neither like-minded nor enemies, there is no need to fight fiercely here.

[Tsk, although it sounded a bit alarmist in the meeting. But ultimately, there isn't any truly irreconcilable conflict between us and the other teams. It's just that those weak reincarnation teams, which don't even have a true god, think that reincarnators can't coexist. In reality, however, we're just competitors.]

Her gaze fell upon Flora, the agent bustling about in the temple of Immanuel. The blueprints provided by someone she loved were already showing signs of becoming reality. And the entire city was rapidly developing and expanding at a pace she felt might be slow, but relative to this stage, it was already incredibly fast.

This is also 'change,' a change that leans towards development. This is the erosion of the Dao; the more changes there are, the more erosion occurs, and the higher the limit of interference becomes.

Aichidra gave Alice some very important information: data about the Dao Erosion. After becoming a true god, Alice knew that the only opponents for true gods like herself were those who had followed the same path, either pioneers or peers. This was because the first to reach the summit would cut off the path for all who followed, but for those who forged their own path, this was not a problem at all.

A lone traveler is solitary on the path of power, without friends or enemies along the way. Aichidra's crucial intelligence led her to decisively abandon the path of power with its predecessors at the moment of her ascension to true godhood, thus becoming a lone traveler. Consequently, the irreconcilable ties between her and the other reincarnators ceased.

[The Supreme God is actually much more lenient towards reincarnators than expected. Annihilation is primarily targeted at beings below the fourth rank, and is often used only as a warning rather than a true punishment. As for reincarnators who want to leave the Supreme God's space, the Supreme God doesn't make things too difficult—in fact, if I wanted to leave, the reward points and side quests would simply be a matter of finding a world coordinate to farm points. My experiments even verified this fact.]

She recalled the millions of reward points that Zheng Zha's past self had been swindled out of in the Zero World—those weren't fakes, but real, tangible items. The Main God didn't really care about things like inflation. And if Zheng Zha had been able to bring those reward points back then, the entire team could have exchanged them for the highest level of escape benefits, directly avoiding the final battle and ending their journey.

Zheng Zha failed to retain his reward points because Aiqidra adjusted the time. It was also because he and I had reached a certain consensus long ago. Just like how he started that clumsy 'Resident Evil vacation' to spend all his reward points. Deep down, he and I both knew that for us reincarnators who had transformed from mortals to extraordinary beings, even true gods, in such a short time, it was now we who wanted to stay in the God's Space, not the God keeping us here.

[Without the protection and support of the Supreme God, it would have taken us an unimaginable amount of resources and time to reach our current level. Even now, when reward points are of little use to us, the multiverse travel and protection provided by the Supreme God are still crucial for our future growth.]

She sighed softly—long ago, she knew that being able to enter the Main God Space and become a Reincarnator was an incredible stroke of luck and fortune. Of course, the karma involved was heavy, but it wasn't unpayable. Now that she had reached that point, her earlier words had unknowingly become a kind of consensus within the team.

For all these reasons, the Zhongzhou team and other Reincarnation teams at the same level are not in a completely opposing, life-or-death situation—they are all here simply because the opportunity is rare, and everyone wants to compete. However, even if they fail… it's not a big deal.

[A rehearsal for the final battle... that's probably what it means. The other reincarnation teams probably think the same way.]

If we gain nothing here, and fail to seize other opportunities afterward, then that kind of reincarnation team probably won't appear on the final battlefield... just like the Southern Flame Team back then. Leaving the battlefield, returning to the mortal world, becoming a powerful local overlord in any random universe. But I think I shouldn't expect that fate... just as my adoptive mother probably wouldn't let me slip away so easily.

She sensed a further increase in the limits of interference, just as she had said before at the ring table: when Fujimaru Ritsuka arrived at the Seventh Singularity, it would be the day when Team Nakazuki could make their moves freely. The reason was none other than the deepening of the Dao Erosion. And now, although many of her companions planned to descend in their true forms to practice their own paths, at least she was still using the interference method she had decided on from the beginning.

A portion of her will then detached and descended along a hidden trajectory at a speed countless times faster than those fallen stars. The corresponding container had already been prepared, and now was the time to put it into use!

Flora, the character I chose... is your true identity really as I suspected?

Her will descended swiftly, traversing the heavens, crossing the halo of light, and entering the atmosphere. It paused briefly in the distant skies above Imanithy, where the earth shone with radiance, before deflecting.

Flora, whom she observed, remained unchanged, yet doubts lingered in her heart. Extraordinary life is not a matter of chance, and neither is true God. There must be a reason she chose Flora, and she was determined to investigate until she understood!

If your true form is indeed the person I envisioned, then did I choose you in some mysterious way, making you a pawn in my interference on this stage? Or did you deliberately let me choose you, so you could secretly use my power to escape a hopeless situation of certain death and destruction?

There were many containers, but she didn't choose this one; instead, she selected another that was slightly weaker. The angle of her will shifted towards the wilderness outside Gillespie, and beyond that wilderness was the place where the Chaldean group and their servant, Tomoe Gozen-sho, were talking and trekking forward.

[Is my guess correct? Originating from the primordial dream master even before the ancient times, a remnant of the hunting saint ritual, a conceptual shell abandoned by the primordial moon saint...]

She precisely locked onto Tomoe Gozen, and onto the flame-shaped bird on Tomoe Gozen's shoulder. The next moment, her invisible will and the flame-shaped bird, also named 'Love' due to the erosion phenomenon, suddenly locked eyes in the void!

[The last Moon Goddess besides the Two Saints, in this world, the next world, and even throughout the entire multiverse.]

【Flora, the Blood Princess of the Moon!】

Section 28 - First Cycle - Gaoyang

Acting like a bird might be a novel experience for most people, but it's nothing new for Alice. Segmenting consciousness is commonplace for Alice, but this time, the main body she left on the circular table has the task of adjusting the timeline. So there's no need to worry about nested dolls within nested dolls as before.

She shook her wings and casually slapped the little beast named Fufu, which was trying to jump up and bite her, to the ground. Even a fully grown ultimate form of a primate killer was just an ordinary big white dog in her eyes. Let alone this little thing that hadn't even grown up yet.

Fou, who had been knocked to the ground, let out a pitiful sound. Mashu, who had been listening to Tomoe Gozen recount the current situation, quickly picked up the pure white little beast with a touch of tenderness and gently rubbed it in her arms. However, that was all; they didn't connect this little incident to anything else.

Is it so strange that a bird slapped a dog?

Obviously, there was nothing strange about this. Alice then flapped her wings, fully adapting to the Flame Bird's form, and landed on Tomoe Gozen's shoulder, who was talking animatedly to Fujimaru and the other two. This level of interference still didn't count as her main body descending; her main body, positioned on the table, remained absolutely safe.

[After adjustments, Ex and Sesshouin Kiara's descent speed should be slightly slower than Zheng Zha's. This way, at least they won't get in the way during this cycle... Ah, it's a pity the Celestials are hiding so well. Right now, we can only confirm they're also descending, but we can't pinpoint their exact timing. It's a little disappointing.]

I wonder if that idiot Zheng Zha will be able to seize this opportunity and find a way to put his principles into practice...

Her thoughts shifted quickly; physical form was merely an external factor, and the tiny brain of a bird did not hinder her rapid thinking. In the gaps between her thoughts, she observed with great interest the white-haired servant who served as her temporary resting place, listening to her recount one piece of information after another that was crucial to this world.

Ba has been talking for quite a while now.

"...The specific situation is as follows: My Lord told me that there are at least seven pillars of gods on this continent. Apart from my Lord, who rules over Imanith, three pillars are manifest, and three are hidden. The gods of the three manifest pillars are all goddesses. You have already seen Ishtar before; she roams the land of Mesopotamia, bringing down all sorts of calamities at will. The feathered serpent god is in Ur, south of Uruk, but I don't know the specifics. The remaining one is the goddess of monsters, Tiamat, who has stirred up war on this land."

"Enkidu is one of her most capable subordinates, leading numerous magical beasts and repeatedly assaulting the defenses of northern Uruk and southwestern Imanithic. It did not gain much advantage in Imanithic, but it caused considerable casualties in northern Uruk. The reason it and Ishtar are here is because the arrival of you Chaldeans was entirely under the watchful eyes of the gods."

"Miss Tomoe!" Ritsuka looked genuinely surprised. "You mean everyone knew we were coming—"

“Perhaps not all, but probably all the gods.” Ba shook his head, then nodded in reply, “In my lord’s assessment, Ishtar, one of the seven gods who descended, should be the weakest in her true form. The reason my lord sent me to protect you on your journey to the first city is probably because she saw something.”

“So that’s how it is…” Ritsuka murmured. She and Mash exchanged a glance, then she asked cautiously, “Miss Tomoe, is the goddess you’ve been talking about your Master? The Master who summoned you to this land?”

“Yes and no.” Ba nodded, then shook his head. “I also know about the Holy Grail ritual, but I wasn’t actually summoned to this land by my master. It was King Gilgamesh of Uruk who used the Holy Grail to summon me and the other Servants. I left King Gilgamesh’s service after that for some other reasons and became my master’s Servant.”

Ritsuka and Mash exchanged bewildered glances, their surprise tinged with a hint of elation. The surprise stemmed from the sheer number of goddesses and Servants already existing on this land. The elation arose from the fact that the Holy Grail was in the hands of King Gilgamesh!

The way to restore human order is to remove the Holy Grail. If the Holy Grail in Gilgamesh's possession is the first 'anchor point' in Dr. Xiao's theory, then wouldn't that mean that simply removing the Holy Grail from Gilgamesh would be equivalent to the perfect completion of this continuous spiritual particle transfer?

"Then, Miss Ba, could you take us to see King Gilgamesh?"

“No problem.” Ba smiled and nodded. “My lord’s command is to escort you two until you reach the first city you wish to go to. Now that you have a destination, I will take you to Uruk, where King Gilgamesh resides.”

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Sister Ba!"

"Ah."

Alice tilted her head, watching as the girl named Fujimaru Ritsuka effortlessly changed "Miss Tomoe" to "Sister Tomoe" without causing the slightest incongruity. Everyone present, including Nakahara Tomoe, seemed to consider it perfectly natural—she couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for Flora, who was painstakingly crafting the War Angels far away in Imanithyc. For a Servant to encounter Fujimaru Ritsuka was indeed a one-way trip.

She still didn't see anything strange about Fujimaru Ritsuka, and she knew this was perfectly normal. In this world, Fujimaru Ritsuka was just an ordinary person in the truest sense. It was only because of the saint's gaze that she possessed great fortune, always encountering things that were advantageous to her and always making the right decisions.

In other words, if we want to give her a disguise, we have to go along with her actions and provide her with some assistance on her journey... well, not direct help, but indirect and subtle. It has to be assistance that doesn't seem like help on the surface, but actually helps her achieve her goals.

Alice pondered, certain that Fujimaru Ritsuka carried the path and ideals of one of the two saints. She also knew that the other reincarnation teams were, at least for now, completely unaware of everything.

The Demon Team might know the essence of this war, but the number of secrets they know is definitely less than that of the Central Continent Team, who presided over the Hunting Saint Ceremony. Senzhou and Yinzhou might know the essence of this world, but at most they can understand the level of the Dao Struggle, knowing that this world is the only region they can intervene in, but their understanding of the form of the Dao Struggle is likely unclear. The Western Sea Team has become a tool, and as for the Celestials…

[They might be a variable. After all, they're just clueless kids, but they're often much harder to deal with than well-informed adversaries. Besides, I don't really like palace intrigue dramas. So, I need to find a way to lead them astray.]

A slightly cool breeze swept by, causing one of the Flamebird's wings to flutter slightly. The disturbed air currents traveled through the surrounding rocky wilderness, then, thanks to the favorable terrain, stirred up a gust of wind that had a defined range.

An ordinary, natural wind. Just as the flapping of a butterfly's wings can stir up a storm on a continent across the ocean, the fluttering of the Flame Bird's wings can also slightly deflect the direction of the surrounding atmosphere—a wisp of aura, carrying a trace of Ritsuka's body heat, successfully shifted with this change of wind. And a few minutes later, it successfully touched the nostrils of a small group of magical beasts gathered in the forest.

The monsters sniffed and growled—they were once human, but now they were weapons. Humans have joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, while weapons do not. Humans feel fear, while weapons do not—perhaps weapons of the old era did, but these deficiencies no longer reside within them. With the strongest monster letting out a slightly higher-pitched roar, a dozen or so monsters turned their heads and charged in a pack towards where the Chaldea group was!

The beasts leaped, and birds took flight in fright. Among the group thousands of meters away, Tomoe Gozen sensed something amiss. Just as she was about to act, intending to deal with these troublesome magical beasts remotely from beyond visual range, Mash, following behind Fujimaru, also sensed the subtle change in the distance.

"Senior, Miss Ba." The giant shield in her hand materialized again from its spiritual essence. Before Ba could act, she took a small step forward. "I smell blood. Enemies are coming."

“Not an enemy, but a magical beast,” Ba replied, silently conjuring a fiery longbow between her fingers. A cold wind swept by, and a sudden, inexplicable wave of frustration washed over her, causing her to slow her movements slightly.

A little bit of time, a brief moment. For her, this slight delay wouldn't put her or her protectors in any dire situation. But that little bit of time was enough for the monsters to emerge from their hiding place in the forest and be exposed to Mash, Ritsuka, and the others.

"—Ritsuka, there are nineteen magical sources seven hundred meters directly in front of you. Their Spirit Origin reactions are mostly at the level of a lower-ranking Servant. The one with the strongest reaction is equivalent to a mid-ranking Servant. Be careful." —In Chaldea, Olga Marie instinctively uttered this warning. However, she regretted it the moment she spoke, as such words were superfluous with a top-tier Servant like Tomoe Gozen by her side.

She shut her mouth, but the effect had already been felt. The director's warning sounded like a urging in Mashu's ears. She instinctively took a step forward, then a second step into a rapid sprint, raising her massive cross shield to deliver a crushing blow to the monsters!

Mashu is a half-Servant with a strength rating of C, meaning that in this ancient age of gods, she also possesses the ability to smash low-level magical beasts with a single punch using blunt weapons—she is pure and kind, but her purity and kindness seem to be directed only towards intelligent beings. When she entered her charge state, Tomoe clearly sensed her pure killing intent towards that small group of magical beasts!

No, perhaps this can't even be considered killing intent. Why would a human need to deliberately cultivate killing intent when killing monsters? Perhaps in Mashu's eyes, these monsters were merely moving materials, rampaging machines, uncontrolled clumps of magical energy—just as she had never killed a mortal in her past journeys. She had never hesitated when dealing with monsters like beholders, chimeras, and wyverns. And the next moment, the monster closest to her appeared before her!

She moved quickly, but something was faster. Several fiery arrows flew past her at a speed faster than her sprint and pierced the non-lethal areas of the monsters. With the ensuing explosions of air and blood mist, Mashu's rapid advance was abruptly halted before she could kill the monsters.

"Sister Ba?" "Miss Ba?"

Ritsuka and Mashu both looked puzzled, and then Tomoe's voice rang out clearly.

“Come back, Mashu. This... is enough.” Her words were hesitant, but her tone was unwavering.

“But those monsters…” Mash wanted to argue further; she could still clearly sense the life force of those monsters—Barth’s arrows had only severely injured them, not killed them. They had disabled their mobility but preserved their brains. And Mash could even faintly hear their low growls and howls emanating from their chests and abdomens.

“Don’t worry about them, this is fine.” Ba shook his head, dismissing any hesitation in his heart. “It’s good for them, it’s good for you, it’s good for everyone…it’s good for everyone.”

Mashu cast an inquiring glance at Ritsuka.

"Come back, Mashu." Ritsuka made the decision without much hesitation.