Chapter 257: Allies Are Meant to Be (4K)

"Cough cough cough… No!"

Coming to his senses, Herbert's scalp prickled as he looked at the two clearly displeased monster girls.

Shit, what the hell did I just say?

Did I just blurt out everything I was thinking?

He nervously wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gave them an awkward smile.

Ahahaha… what a weather, what a cell!

I said "I want it all!" out loud, and that's exactly what I thought too.

I'm consistent inside and out.

My mouth means it, and my heart means it too.

But honestly, I never intended to be so arrogant!

I never meant to flip the table!

Herbert cleared his throat and chuckled dryly: "You two, uh, listen to me—I didn't mean it like that!"

This, that… cough, let me explain.

Fu Leimei and Valentina looked at this shamelessly greedy human, exchanged a glance, then turned their heads away simultaneously and gave their response.

The sea witch snorted, the dragon exhaled.

"Hmph!"

"Hah!"

Don't think saying that will make us forgive you!

Do you think we're that easy to pacify?

Impossible!

In that moment, they formed a defensive alliance to jointly resist Herbert, this rotten guy.

Watching these pouting "Heng and Ha Generals" glare at him, Herbert actually calmed down—his face still awkward, but his heart had regained its composure.

He even secretly rejoiced.

Good! Very good!

He wasn't some masochist who enjoyed being stared at with cold eyes; he'd simply confirmed one thing from their reactions.

These two only intended to use cold treatment to inflict emotional harm—they had no intention of using hot weapons for physical elimination.

That meant—no life threat.

Doesn't this prove they still love me?

And since they still love me, then… this situation isn't a big problem.

With my abilities, I'll surely handle it easily!

Indeed, those who are loved always act with impunity.

【"Hmph."】

Nie Nasha, sensing Herbert's inner emotions, gave a thoroughly unimpressed mental comment.

【"…To be fair, my dear ally, you've really become shameless lately~"】

Am I imagining things?

Has this guy's skin gotten thicker?

Young Lady recalled the timid, cautious boy who, facing life-or-death crises, had strained every nerve and exhausted every trick to bargain with Her.

Back then, he was so adorable!

Wait… did this guy ever really have innocence?

It felt like he'd always been a slab of meat that couldn't be chopped or hacked apart.

And after several months, Herbert gradually perfected his skills, nearing total transformation into a completely unrestrained scoundrel.

What turned him into this?

Love, perhaps?

Indeed, "love" is not a good thing at all.

It's thoroughly rotten.

"Oh?"

Herbert finally heard Young Lady's voice and immediately thought sarcastically: "Why are you finally bothering to show up? How rare!"

Yep, it was time for the blame-game segment: complain about your teammate doing nothing.

This match wasn't your fault, right. JPG

"When I was so confused just now, why did you stay silent? Couldn't you have lifted my spirits and guided this clueless boy?"

Where the hell were you just now? You weren't even in Soul Street!

Nie Nasha, why were you just watching?!

In response to Herbert's accusations, Nie Nasha smiled with clear delight and retorted:

【"Oh? You needed my help? You didn't ask me, so I didn't presume."】

Herbert complained that she didn't act proactively; Nie Nasha had her own point: why didn't you ask me?

Hmph~

Do I have to beg you to let me help you?

【"Besides, were you truly confused? You just fell into that one's trap for a moment."】

In Young Lady's view, Herbert had no reason to be confused.

A greedy creature like him could never choose between two extremes.

Impossible.

【"You greedy thing, you'd have reached that conclusion eventually~"】

Is there really any other possibility?

There isn't.

Herbert, hearing this, laughed to himself and agreed with Her view.

"Well, what you said is true."

【"Besides, how could you not understand my good intentions?"】

Nie Nasha poked the sole of Herbert's foot with a shadow tentacle, scratching hard, and started muttering.

【"Have you never thought—if I reminded you, then the final decision you made, was it really yours? Or was it mine?"】

【"Do you want me to shape you into the form I desire? I wouldn't mind, but do you truly wish for such a future?"】

"Ah, well, that is…"

Herbert sniffled a little awkwardly, his gaze slightly evasive—in the eyes of the two monster girls, this was a clear sign of a guilty conscience.

【"My ally."】

Nie Nasha's voice was uncommonly low, revealing a faint sorrow within its tenderness, whispering softly:

【"You must understand… losing oneself is the most terrifying thing of all."】

【"Whether mortal or divine, once one loses one's original self, it is already equivalent to dying completely."】

Nie Nasha's words were hardly unusual; similar records could be found in all manner of texts.

In the eyes of many, once a person changed due to some upheaval, becoming unlike their past self, with a tremendous shift in behavior and conduct, they would be considered to have already "died."

For example—the "weak" him of the past is already dead; what lives on now is an "even weaker" him!

Of course, this way of speaking was more a manner of expressing lament.

And the gods… were no exception.

Moreover, for Them, "dying" was no exaggeration, no mere rhetoric!

Gods could be devoured by their own divine office.

The gods of this world, apart from the Primordial Gods who were born as gods, all had their own unique personalities, wills, and styles of conduct before becoming deities.

Yet, once They kindled the divine flame and forged a close bond with Their divine office, raising Their divine throne aloft, the situation would undergo a subtle shift.

These gods began to be influenced by Their divine office.

The divine office—an existence imbued with tremendous power and a special mission—was like a colossal vortex, gradually drawing the gods into itself, influencing Them at every moment.

Like an invisible force, silently affecting the gods' thoughts, emotions, and behavior.

Some gods who had originally been merciful and kind, full of compassion before their ascension, would gradually grow cold and ruthless because their divine office was tied to slaughter.

Was it the god who mastered the divine office?

Or was it the divine office that shaped the god?

For the strong who could master their own power, it was the former—they were the masters of their strength.

But for the lucky weaklings who ascended by chance, the situation was the latter.

At the beginning, this influence was not obvious; it would erode the god's will gradually, like a slow poison.

In the end, they would become puppets of their divine office, fully embodying their domain.

And at that moment, even though "They" still lived, one could already declare Them utterly dead.

"…"

At this moment, Herbert fell somewhat silent.

Because after Nie Nasha spoke these words, a thought occurred to him—was Nie Nasha bringing this up now as a hint at something?

Her current state… did it truly count as having lost Her original self?

For Nie Nasha, what exactly was the original self? Which one could represent the true Her?

Was it the Her who was the Saint? Or the Her who was Miss Xie Shen?

Now, this composite born of the merging of two powerful souls—was it a shared continuation of both? Or an entirely new life?

These thoughts left Herbert somewhat silent, unsure what to say, unsure how to comfort Her.

"Nie Nasha, you…"

And just as Herbert was preparing to express his apology and gratitude, to properly thank Her and apologize…

The "dejected" Miss Xie Shen could no longer keep up the act.

She revealed Her true nature.

【"Pfft! Hahahaha, cough cough cough!"】

She first let slip a delighted laugh, unable to hold it in, then coughed forcefully twice, pretending nothing had happened as She continued the performance.

【"Herbert, you heartless man! Not only are you not grateful to me, you actually want to complain about me! You've really gone too far!"】

She did Her utmost to express Her grievance.

【"I'll cry for you! Boo hoo hoo—"】

Herbert:?

Where did this crybaby come from?

Hah!

Demon!

Stop your damn crying, or I'll take a swing at you!

Also, even though it's an open-faced fake cry, could you at least put some heart into it?

Your crying is really fake, not the least bit sincere.

So you're really not even going to pretend, huh.

"Sigh… I really am a fool, truly."

How could I possibly worry that this girl has something on her mind?

Isn't she just a clown god?

What ulterior motives could she possibly have?

"…Tch."

Herbert's mouth twitched, and he decided he wouldn't pay this girl any more attention today.

Cry.

I don't care about you anymore, go ahead and cry your heart out.

He could actually understand that Nie Nasha wasn't truly heartless.

She wasn't Valentina.

Besides, even Valentina wouldn't go this far — that would be an insult to the hungry dragon.

Those reflections, worries, and doubts about "self" must surely exist within Nie Nasha's heart, and they certainly wouldn't be few.

But she didn't want to express them to her own ally.

For Nie Nasha, this was her own problem, and she didn't want outsiders meddling — even if that outsider was now her closest, and only, ally.

Without anyone's help, she would arrive at her own conclusion.

When it came to thinking on such crucial matters, she judged others by herself, and wouldn't poke her nose into others' affairs either.

After fake-crying for a while, Nie Nasha got into the groove, even crying with a sense of rhythm.

【"Ying↑ ying↓ ying↑↑↑ ying~~~"】

Herbert understood that Nie Nasha was being so absurd on purpose to cover up her own embarrassment…

But the problem was, she did it too well.

Listening to that mournful, endlessly drawn-out fake crying echoing in his soul, Herbert really was starting to get a bit annoyed.

Annoyed.

In the end, he was the first to break, surrendering helplessly.

"Stop, stop, I said stop!"

"Alright, alright, stop crying! My head's about to split from listening to this."

That's enough already!

【"Ying ying ying… haha! You couldn't hold it in, I win this round!"】

After Herbert raised the white flag, Nie Nasha immediately stopped crying and declared her victory.

Good, she won!

"You win, you win, honestly…"

Even though Nie Nasha had stopped fake-crying, Herbert still felt as though that air-raid-siren-like fake crying was ringing in his ears.

It's really brainwashing ahhh—

Herbert shook his head, vainly trying to shake those sounds out of his ears.

He was silent for a moment, and finally expressed his gratitude to Nie Nasha.

"…Thank you."

Thank you for not interfering so easily, for being willing to respect my will.

【"Mm~ you're welcome!"】

The Clown God Young Lady cheerfully accepted her somewhat tsundere ally's shy gratitude, laughing merrily in the shadows.

【"You don't need to thank me any more~ just hurry up and free me."】

"Mm, don't worry, I'll work hard at it."

【"Mm~ I believe in you, I've always believed in you."】

My still-weak mortal ally.

Keep working hard, and grow stronger soon!

I really can hardly wait to meet you.

After finishing his chat with the Clown God Young Lady in his head, Herbert shifted his main consciousness back to the outside world.

During the time he had been in "awkward silence," the two monster girls' "Anti-Herbert Wartime Alliance" had already begun to show some cracks.

Just like many people's stereotype — the collapse of an alliance usually begins from within.

Some people, quite clearly, didn't have firm enough convictions.

Clearly about to betray the alliance!

"…Gulp."

Valentina swallowed her saliva, staring fixedly at Herbert, lightly licking her vivid red lips, her eyes revealing quite obvious innuendo.

As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Although Valentina had mostly been sleeping during this period and wasn't awake much, when she did wake she missed Herbert terribly, and seeing him now felt especially dear.

She missed him.

And, there was an even more important point — she had only just had a satisfying meal at Swanny's place not long ago.

Yes, she was full.

Valentina now found Herbert extremely tempting!

She wanted to eat him.

"…"

It was hard for Herbert not to notice Young Lady Hungry Dragon's aggressive gaze, but he still pretended he hadn't noticed anything.

"Ahem."

He coughed lightly twice, the earlier awkwardness gone from his face, and said with a beaming smile to the two of them: "Um, cough, how about… you just pretend you didn't hear any of it?"

Bah.

Hearing those shameless words, Fu Leimei gave a light spit and huffed: "You wish! If you don't explain yourself clearly, the two of us absolutely won't let you off easy today…"

Just as she was speaking, Valentina over there nodded vigorously and said seriously: "Mm! Okay, I didn't hear anything!"

Fu Leimei:?

The mermaid young lady's whole being was thrown off, staring at her own ally in disbelief.

"…Ah!!?"

???

What are you saying!!?

You—!

Traitor!

(End of chapter)