Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

However, Ritsuka immediately gave a reply.

“I made a pact with one of the otherworldly gods, which will provide us with a certain level of protection. In other words, we will be stopped if we are directly attacked. And with Gaia’s help, we will not die from the aftershocks.”

"How do you plan to connect the divided continents?" Flora continued to ask.

“This requires your help, senior. Originally, I planned to ask Tiamat for help, so that she could use her power as the creator goddess to drag us and this continent to a suitable place. But if you are willing to help, then by combining the power of Tiamat and you, we can completely pull Mesopotamia closer to other continents. And as long as multiple continents come together, we can try to awaken Gaia.”

How to wake it up?

“Akuta-senpai can help.” Ritsuka turned her head and nodded to Merlin, who was not far behind her. “Mr. Merlin told me that Akuta-senpai is a True Ancestor, a tentacle of Gaia. As long as we can find Chaldea again, we can directly contact Gaia through Akuta-senpai’s power.”

Flora closed her eyes, thought for a few seconds, then slowly opened them and gently exhaled.

“I understand what you mean… Hmph, how interesting.” Her eyes, which had been open, narrowed slightly again. “The planet shattered, and the Star Soul Gaia clung to life. While those powerful ancient gods fought on the stage of the universe, you and I, two mortals, represented two directions for self-salvation.”

“I don’t rely on anyone, only on the power I can reach. My only goal is to continue the civilization of mortals. Whether I can live or how many people survive is not important. So I will save as many as I can, and if I can’t save any more, I will leave in the Ark. But you, you are used to relying on the power of your allies, so you want to save everyone, even the planet itself.”

“A long time ago, I read a very interesting storybook called ‘The Wandering Earth.’ And you and I are like the Wandering Earth faction and the spaceship faction in that book—when the catastrophe that destroys the solar system comes, I want to preserve the spark of humanity and continue the world in the most feasible and least risky way at present. But you want to take the whole Earth away with you, save more people, take on more burdens, and take the whole home away to wander.”

"Is that so, Fujimaru?"

“That’s right, senpai.” Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded with a hint of anticipation. “Although I haven’t read that book, since it’s called ‘The Wandering Earth,’ the ‘The Wandering Earth’ faction should win, right? So…”

“I have one more question,” Flora’s voice interrupted her. “The Earth in that novel has no soul, but Gaia is different. You should already know about the Magic King… the Demon God King, and you should also know about the doomsday prophecy of the Steel Continent. The Incineration of Humanity was able to be activated without Gaia’s tacit approval. So…”

"What do you rely on to make Gaia—" She frowned slightly. "To make Gaia choose to provide shelter to mortals after she awakens?"

“I have no support.” Ritsuka shook her head decisively. “I have no means to restrain Him, and even if I did, I don’t intend to use them. This is my way of life. I will strive to gain the help of all my allies, and what I use to bind them is emotion, is bond, not a strict contract… I admit that this is the biggest flaw in my plan. If He does not approve of us after we awaken Gaia, then there is nothing I can do. But… I intend to save Him.”

"I treat the world with kindness, and I look forward to the world's kindness—this is my philosophy of life. Senior, that's all I have to say."

Flora closed her eyes for the second time. In her memory, the cold stares and indifference of those followers, the hostility that seemed to be rushing towards her from the entire world, surged into her heart—

Ah, to treat the world with kindness? If there were a way to go, who wouldn't want to treat the world with kindness? If I had a choice, I could live like you, surrounded by flowers and brocade, so why would I need to rack my brains and use every trick in the book on my journey?

—Was I born with original sin, destined for a life of hardship and suffering? Then…

So what if I have no allies, no companions? So what? I've still come this far, and I will continue to come. Because I don't need you, just as you never needed me!

“If…” Flora murmured as if in a dream. “If Fujimaru’s birthplace were a thousand kilometers southwest. If you were born on the other side of the sea and received your education there, perhaps I really would be convinced by you.”

“…Senior?” Ritsuka’s heart sank suddenly.

Flora's fully open eyes were now completely filled with determination. "Nation, country, and the world; collective strength. This is not something you could conceive of. Fujimaru, born and educated on an island, you could not possibly have such a strong sense of homeland, such a collective mindset—you learned this from the ancient god of Ur, didn't you? You call it an otherworldly god; it must have told you many secrets and had a great influence on you."

"At least, it gave you the arrogance and reliance to stand in front of me and challenge me to a fair fight."

"Aren't you going to accept my challenge, Senior Flora...?"

However, Flora shook her head.

“No, I will accept your challenge. Because your plan is not entirely without merit.” She took a deep breath, and the lightning and flames that were flashing all over her body dimmed at a visible speed—she glanced at her follower, and Ba knowingly shot a burning arrow at a patch of sea covered with black mud and flower petals beside them.

The arrow evaporated the seawater, dried and inertized the black mud, and burned the flowers. What remained was a flat expanse of land, resembling an arena.

Flora walked to one end, her aura rapidly weakening. Eventually, it stagnated at a level of power equivalent to a demigod-level Spirit Origin Servant, slightly below a god, and essentially equivalent to famous ancient heroes like Hercules and Agrippa.

As Fujimaru Ritsuka walked to the other side, her aura began to rise, her body underwent a small-scale dragon transformation before dissipating, and finally transformed into a strange figure that looked like an ordinary person, but also gave people the feeling of a two-headed chibi.

“Then…” Flora held the dim lightning sword in her hand, level with her shoulder.

"Let us two arrogant people decide how to use these limited resources and what kind of future humanity will face!"

"Here we go, Fujimaru!"

The next moment, two completely different forces and wills suddenly collided!

Chapter 86 The Battle of Heaven - Self-Awareness

Colorless meteors fell from the sky and descended into the clouds. As the battle on the sea began, some of those meteors landed above the clouds, high enough to overlook the battlefield, and an invisible barrier unfolded, revealing several humanoid silhouettes.

A portion of the Demon Squad infiltrators arrived at the battlefield.

There were four people in the group: two men and two women. One was a white man and the other a white woman, one was an Asian woman, and one was a Southeast Asian man. Among the four, the white man and the Asian woman were vaguely considered to be in charge. If their descriptions were more detailed, it would be understood that the Asian woman was likely a court noble from ancient Japan, while the white man was from continental Europe.

After descending above the clouds, they paused briefly, observing the battlefield below. The battle between Flora and Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had withdrawn all their divine power, probably looked to them like a poorly made, low-quality animation with noticeably broken frames. Yet, they still watched intently, observing every change on the battlefield.

A few minutes later, the white man let out a slight breath.

"We've gathered the general intelligence. The Servants below are roughly on par with our side in terms of combat strength. They're generally at the level of Divine Servants, which is essentially native transcendental beings, equivalent to about half the minimum standard of the fourth level of the Gene Lock system. Tiamat, on the other hand, is a native God-King, barely reaching the upper limit of the fourth level, but judging from her status, she should be classified as a mid-four level—this isn't too difficult for us, and defeating them shouldn't require too much effort."

“There’s something wrong with Fujimaru Ritsuka. Her combat power is at the level of a typical Tier 3 with A-rank enhancement. But that’s about it. The only thing to worry about is that she might have formed a connection with a powerful Reincarnator. And from my perspective… Fujimaru Ritsuka here has a similar aura to the captain.”

His tone was slightly serious: "It's possible... that the captain's true identity is somewhat related to her."

"The captain of the Central Continent Team..." The elegant-looking Eastern woman opened a folding fan to cover her face, and from behind the fan, the voices of thousands upon thousands of people flowed down like water. "Lord Chu Xuan has instructed us to keep our distance from the fourth-level reincarnations of the Central Continent Team. And we should obey his orders."

“Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to say. Lady Otsutsuki.” The white man nodded slightly. “And if there’s still some uncertainty about Fujimaru Ritsuka’s supporters, then the identity of the woman fighting her on the field right now is practically obvious—”

"Her name is Flora. We have a Flora over there too, but that Flora is still in her Master's hibernation pod and has a completely different appearance. This one here… if she goes all out, she should be at the level of a weak fourth-tier middle school student. And more importantly, her appearance…" He swallowed hard. "...is at least 90% similar to Ms. Alice."

“The phenomenon of eclipse.” The Southeast Asian man uttered a suppressed unease. “Flora here is definitely an important pawn of Ms. Alice’s true form. She might even be her spokesperson—Tom, so far, we haven’t observed Ms. Alice’s true form participating in the war through stargazing.”

The white man named Tom shook his head with a grim expression.

"No, Dechai, Amya, there is no sign of Ms. Alice's true form participating in the battle in the sky. She is the only one on Chu Xuan's list of key targets who has no indication of her taking action—I even observed traces of Zhao Yingkong and Zhao Zhuikong fighting against Sesshouin Kiara of the Indian team in the Imaginary Ocean by consuming items. But... she is the only one not there."

“She…is very likely still on this continent. Perhaps…” Tom took a deep breath and glanced at the sky with some fear. “She might be watching us right now.”

The atmosphere above the clouds suddenly froze.

However, he relaxed again the next moment.

“If that’s the case, then that would be perfect.” The Southeast Asian man, Dechai, breathed a sigh of relief. “We both know just how powerful a true god is, beyond the fourth-order limit. That Ms. Luo alone could hold off most of the demon team, excluding us good-for-nothings. And the true form of Ms. Alice, who has a deep connection with Ms. Luo, is even more formidable. She can see us, and we’re still alive, which means that we won’t be directly attacked by true gods when we move around on this land—perhaps in their eyes, we’re just whetstones.”

"Although it's hard to admit, it's the truth." The Otsutsuki lady spoke from behind her folding fan. "We are the inferior ones in the Demon Squad, and there are also inferior ones in their Central Continent Squad—if we want to cross the boundary and make up for our shortcomings, then we can only use every means to fight. So, as long as we challenge our fellow inferiors fairly and squarely, and don't go looking for trouble with those big shots on the list, then we shouldn't be suddenly crushed by a finger from afar."

"It's just a bit of a pity that we can't use the safest and easiest way to compete for the Dao provided by Mr. Chu Xuan." Amy smoothed her hair and sighed slightly. "According to Mr. Chu Xuan's analysis, the greater the impact we have on this world, the faster and more the resources and purified saintly power will approach us. If we can sway the decisions of a protagonist or an important supporting character, or even erode them into our own being, then it's possible for us to ascend directly to the heavens, make up for all our shortcomings, and advance directly. But now..."

"Let's stop daydreaming," Tom shook his head slightly. "I don't want to be like those third-rate villains in novels, deliberately courting death—let's cancel the original plan. I've just detected traces of some of the other reincarnators from the Central Continent Team. They're in Chaldea—Chaldea has been transformed into spaceships by them. They were in the Seventh Singularity not long ago, only for a moment. But I can track them down."

"That's all we can do." The other three nodded in agreement, while the Otsutsuki lady glanced at the battlefield below a little longer.

She actually wanted to fight, after all, they had crossed the line and were prepared to die. But facing death is not the same as deliberately courting death. They knew very well how vast the gap was between a true god and trash below the true god. To directly touch the cake of a true god who hadn't even shown any signs of making a move and then get crushed—that kind of thing… that kind of thing wasn't actually impossible to do.

[I need to eliminate the protagonist before Ms. Alice makes a move, gather a large amount of resources, and then level up quickly. As long as I can use the special items provided by Lord Chu Xuan to delay her for a moment during the operation, and as long as I can successfully cross that line, it won't be a big deal if I'm immediately killed afterwards... it'll just mean one resurrection. Lord Chu Xuan won't easily abandon teammates at the fourth level.]

【But alas…】She sighed inwardly, then followed the others through the spatial jump portal without hesitation and left.

Why do I always have this feeling that if I act now and interfere with the battle that follows... the consequences will be many times worse than never being reborn?

[...It's clearly just two chickens pecking at each other.]

She didn't know why this feeling seemed to be unique to her, or perhaps others felt it but didn't say it, just as she herself hadn't spoken of it. But regardless, she was a rational, intelligent being who didn't want to be a third-rate villain, so she erased her memories and left. Shortly afterward, a gentle breeze smoothed the slightly disturbed clouds.

Meanwhile, the battle between Fujimaru Ritsuka and Flora continues.

Although it was rather pointless, and consisted only of physical clashes and swordplay exchanges, it continued nonetheless.

then……

"You lost." Flora's lightning sword pierced through all of Fujimaru Ritsuka's defensive stances, striking her chest. The strange aura that had gathered on this Chaldean girl from her consultation with Zheng Zha dissipated silently, like a balloon punctured by a needle, returning her to her ordinary self.

"Ah... I lost." Having lost her strength, Ritsuka's knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground. Mash, who had been watching the entire match, immediately called out, "Senpai!" and rushed over to help her up. This brought a bitter smile to Ritsuka's face.

"As expected, it's impossible to win against you, senior, with just passion alone..." she murmured.

“Your power possesses immense nature and unimaginable potential for development. But the process by which you acquired it was far too easy,” Flora said calmly. “Just like your philosophy, you simply put forward an idea without ever putting it into practice. So to me, it’s just a joke, a bubble that bursts at the slightest touch.”

"Senior Flora..."

"But you failed because of your incompetence, not because of your theory. I am not a stubborn and reckless person who is obstinate and inflexible. As long as it does not affect my main goal and I can ensure that I can control the overall situation, it is not impossible to make some changes to the plan."

She regained her goddess-like demeanor, then soared into the air, rising several meters before pausing slightly, tilting her gaze back at Ritsuka at a 45-degree angle.

"Come if you want, get out if you don't."

"What, do you think you, a young lady, need someone to serve you so you can walk?"

"Senior!" Ritsuka's voice was filled with surprise.

Thus, the fusion of Tiamat and Imanitic continued. And just as the Seventh Singularity took its crucial first step, on a distant continent, in the realm of the Fourth Singularity, specifically the London area, another colorless meteor from the Demon Squad—

— It descended silently.

Chapter 87: The War of Heaven - Regional Conflict

London in 1888 is hardly unique among the many singularities. It tells the story of a mad scientist who replaces human residents with cyborgs, thus turning the entire city into a steampunk metropolis. Aside from the Demon King Goetia, who once descended upon the city in the form of the Magic King and dealt with Fujimaru Ritsuka and his companions, the stories of this land are rather ordinary.

Because it's so rare and common, it's easy to repair. Of all the singularities Sirin repaired, London was the easiest to handle. And before she left… or rather, before she arrived, members of Team Middle Continent were already staying there.

After all, steampunk is quite interesting, and the modern British bourgeois lifestyle has its own unique charm. Of course, there are also many other singularities that Flora has ruined, preventing them from having a peaceful vacation, but this reason does not account for a large proportion of the many motivations.

Hmm, maybe not.

In an elegant little villa in central London, Ming Yanwei, having spent a busy day, leisurely reclines in a specially made rocking chair, her fingertips toying with a ball of colorless pure light—not a simulated spiritual light, but a profound application of some kind of materialized telekinesis. After successfully reaching and crossing the threshold of the Fourth Stage, she discovered this mysterious power hidden deep within her heart.

In the original world, she was a mortal who was once an archer athlete selected for the national team. Her shooting talent came from the mental power hidden deep in her genes—she could guide the arrows she shot and even predict some near-future fragments to a small extent. Unlike Xiao Honglu's useless death vision, which he had even abandoned, she developed this talent to its maximum potential after she got the chance to undergo this trial.

She didn't know the true nature of the ritual or the many schemes the wise men had orchestrated behind the scenes, but she knew that this 'Wandering Earth' world was her only hope of catching up with the top tier—yes, even now, she still considered this world 'Wandering Earth' rather than some kind of Saint-hunting ritual. Because she was so focused, focused on doing only one thing, when Zheng Zha and the others abandoned using their proxies and descended directly in their true forms, she also descended to this fourth singularity, far removed from the conflict. And not long after, she discovered part of the truth.

The greater one's influence on this world, the greater the impact on humanity, the protagonists, and the supporting characters, the easier it is for one's own life level to surge—but one must control that surge to avoid being unworthy of one's position—this is the purpose of the so-called spokesperson...

She sighed softly, gazing at the tranquil night sky outside the window—London under the night sky was far from peaceful, for the impact of the singularity's realization on society was far greater than anticipated. As a reincarnated member of the Central Continent Team, and one of the de facto rulers of the city's dark side, she had been working with her companions to maintain order in London, this fourth reality, and to get the city running again.

They did a remarkable job; even the Servants who had been forcibly recalled due to karmic connections were impressed by their management and control. Both the ancient nine-tailed fox spirit Tamamo-no-Mae and the assassin Jack from the mist bowed their heads to them, willing to obey their commands and work together to maintain the city without forming a contract.

Ah, yes, it's them, not just her.

There were three reincarnators from Central Continent who arrived together. She, Zhang Jie, Luo Gandao, and Zhang Heng—Zero Point was still an Aka Zero. Perhaps only those true gods who could freely browse timelines would know where this taciturn assassin had hidden—and in the long past, this city had been ruled by the four of them.

She sniffed. She stood up from the chair, and the glow at her fingertips quietly dissipated, along with the ease and languor that had enveloped her.

Ah... the smell of war.

The dressing room beside her sprang into action, and a group of steam-powered automated maids, in keeping with the technological style of the era, rushed forward to remove the magnificent robes covering her and drape her in the outer garments she would use in battle—she knew she had enough time, for the enemy had issued a declaration of war in a perfectly legitimate manner. A city-wide siren then blared throughout the streets and alleys, urging the city's mortal inhabitants to quickly take refuge underground.

Zhang Heng is no longer here—not dead, not missing, not injured by any strange injury or curse. He simply left this world—perhaps to another singularity, perhaps to some parallel world outside the stage, perhaps back on the Ring Table. All of these are possible, and Ming Yanwei doesn't care, because she knows why.

After a long and arduous journey, Zhang Heng finally gave up, realizing that he and Ming Yanwei could never reconcile. His trip to London was his last attempt. During that time, undisturbed by outsiders, as the four of them worked together to rebuild the city, he desperately tried to prove his masculinity and gain Ming Yanwei's forgiveness for his past actions—he wanted a chance to make amends. But Ming Yanwei only gave him one answer, an answer he hadn't hoped for.

—Hate? Disgust? No… I no longer hate you, I no longer disgust you. Because I've already come to terms with it. I can understand and accept your actions of abandoning me and running away when I was most helpless. Because after so much time has passed, even painful memories become nostalgic.

—Forgiveness? There's no longer any question of forgiveness or non-forgiveness. You made a choice, and you reaped the consequences. I also made a choice, and I reaped the consequences. Both the choice and the outcome have become part of my life, and even if I become a true god in the future and restart the timeline, the causes and effects of that time will already be etched in my memory.

—There is indeed a pill to undo regrets, but I don't want to take it. Because the pain of the past has shaped who I am today, and I am very satisfied with who I am now—or are you planning to force me to drink this pill of regret?

—Mr. Zhang Heng?