Chapter 208

——The test went smoothly……

——As the summoned Servants grew stronger and stronger, their ranks and specifications kept rising……

——The only constant was the remarkable effectiveness of the Charm Power; regardless of whether the opponent was a mortal Legend or a Demigod Hero……

From initially testing at full power directly, to later actively lowering output power, limiting the Charm's output to fifty percent, even thirty percent, the effect still seemed to make little difference.

Only Heracles, a Great Hero of tremendous renown, summoned as a Berserker with a rock-like body and a boiling-kettle mind, not only possessed Rank A Divinity but also the Rank A+ Skill "Mors Brave," which can invalidate mental interference such as pressure, confusion, and bewitchment, showed a certain degree of resistance, and some not-very-obvious oppositional behavior.

But even this strongman couldn't hold out for long before being broken.

The rank difference between them was too great; naturally it was impossible for a single Skill to unconditionally exempt one from all mental interference effects.

However, this also made Xia Zhi realize his initial estimation seemed mistaken; under the vast and mighty power of the Foundation Building Realm, the might of any technique or Divine Ability in his hands was doubled, a performance far surpassing the Qi Refining Realm.

Let alone that he now also possessed the Gray Gu, this highly terrifying Nano Intelligence——

Originating from the Great God heritage brought by the Greek Pantheon, this External Universe civilization, yet ultimately walking a different path; after all, it was nanomachines reverse-engineered and reproduced from information extracted through data recovery by professionals after the relevant information was completely destroyed……

One could say its predecessor was the Lost Technology of the Machine God Civilization, a product hammered out through technical cooperation between Xia Zhi and the Information Integration Thought Entity on the basis of barely excavating a prototype from wreckage, and which later underwent long development, accompanying the Future People's civilization toward the stars……

The Gray Gu, the Nanomachine Sovereign of the Macro Domain.

In this process, it had undoubtedly been gradually forged into extremely great potential.

Compared to the Greek Pantheon's prototype, it had naturally changed a great deal, but it had also inherited many excellent Characteristics, such as high compatibility with Authority power originating from the Greek Chief God.

Xia Zhi imitated the operation of those Machine Gods' Authority power, temporarily manufacturing a Nanomodule specifically for amplifying Charm Power…… after all, originally designed as a function for a cosmic fleet, it ultimately metamorphosed into a form of Divine Authority power, but whether the former or the latter, for a very long time both were phenomena occurring through nanomachines.

Therefore, mimicking the Machine God Authority's mode of occurrence through a Nanomodule, and reinforcing it during his own usage process,

After all, he does not walk the Divine Path——

Therefore his compatibility with this kind of Authority power is not very high.

Now manufacturing a dedicated amplification Nanomodule to specifically reinforce this aspect is naturally like adding wings to a tiger, just like those powerful talismans in games; as long as you equip them, you can possess stronger power in certain aspects.

In fact, he indeed had this idea, preparing to build a unique Cyber Talisman (Enhancement Plugin) system belonging to himself through the form of Nanomodules.

It could both enhance himself to a certain degree and enhance others; if he put a little thought into packaging, it could perhaps be disguised as some unique "Blessing" or "Divine Protection" of the Fairy Nation Lostbelt——

If promoted, those fairies who love chasing trends might well flock to it.

In this way, guinea pigs and experimental data would not be lacking.

This current prototype module counts as just the beginning of exploration; next will come continuous adjustment and optimization, until confirming what comprehensive performance is best, which would roughly count as preliminary finalization. After all, best comprehensive performance means relatively balanced parameters, but whether from necessity or practicality, several specialized versions still need to be developed on this basis.

Sacrificing efficiency, maximizing Skill strength amplification……

Reducing Skill strength, amplifying Skill area of effect……

And so on, too many to enumerate.

However, even just this fledgling prototype still provided a significant amplification to Xia Zhi's Charm Power; he originally only hoped to make up for the lost portion of strength due to his low compatibility with Authority through the Nanomodule, reaching Aphrodite's prototype standard.

But judging by the current situation, perhaps it has somewhat exceeded that……

Nanotechnology is indeed the basic composition of Machine Gods, probably also the Underlying Logic of that super-civilization; as long as it is paired with the Greek-system puzzle pieces in his hand, it is very easy to produce a one-plus-one-greater-than-two effect.

Having sent off the Great Hero Heracles, he finally turned his Gaze to the last of the Twin Goddesses.

Normally speaking, Divine Spirit Summoning is almost impossible, at least in a normal Holy Grail War it is impossible; for example, that Holy Grail System in Fuyuki itself does not possess such a possibility.

Although summoning a Divine Spirit is almost impossible, if conditions permit, or a Miracle occurs, a Divine Spirit Servant still has a chance to manifest. It could be because this Divine Spirit has a Heroic Spirit aspect, or it could be voluntarily lowering its rank to accommodate the summoned Saint Graph; as long as it is willing to weaken to the extent of being summonable by the Summoning System, even a High-Rank Divine Spirit or Great God could possibly manifest.

Especially in this world, after being ravaged in turn by Singularities and Lostbelts, Human Order collapsed, history ceased to exist, the Counter Force fell all the way from an excessively powerful state, until it weakened to the extreme……

Therefore many strict restrictions on the rules have invisibly become extremely lax.

Input command, output result; this massive Summoning Facility was still operating smoothly, naturally giving Feedback.

Accompanied by the Summoning Array on the Ground flashing with intense light, a massive wind of magical energy Roared up, and immediately the indicator lights on the surrounding isolation walls suddenly all lit up red, flashing urgently.

This is a Warning Signal.

But it has no other meaning.

Purely because energy consumption suddenly spiked, causing the magical furnace to be temporarily unable to keep up supply, but this is very simple to solve; the current him doesn't regard energy problems as problems at all.

"Indeed, can't separate them, huh."

Xia Zhi blinked lightly, instantly understanding the situation clearly.

He had only designated one Goddess for summoning, and Alice would certainly follow the rules during operation, impossible to act on her own initiative.

Yet the current situation still produced a change; clearly, on the basis of summoning a Divine Spirit Servant, it further proceeded with a double summoning.

To verify a certain guess, his Consciousness directly traced back to the night Fujimaru Ritsuka had just crossed over, during the pumping for information he intentionally or unintentionally probed in this direction, on the premise of not causing obvious changes to future events, asking a few more questions without leaving a trace.

As for the person involved, she was even more unaware, casually answering this aspect of the question, speaking of the accident in the Seventh Singularity where the Priestess Chief of the Uruk Temple died on the spot due to summoning a Goddess……

——As expected, it's exactly this……

——This one is a two-sided Goddess; her existence is like the two faces of a coin; as long as one is summoned, the other pillar will inevitably appear as well.

That unlucky Priestess Chief of the Seventh Singularity, since she could serve as the overall Project Leader of the Uruk Temple and even gain Gilgamesh's tacit approval, there is presumably no possibility of her being a fraud. In other words, even if her skill isn't top-tier, not reaching Medea's level, her capability should at least meet the basic standard of an Age of Gods Magician.

Yet such a Priestess Chief died on the spot when summoning the City God worshipped by Uruk.

The estimate is she didn't expect the Goddess's situation to be special, directly bearing the pressure of the double summoning.

In the instant of a thought——

In microseconds, Xia Zhi had already returned to reality, looking thoughtfully at the Front where the Summoning effects were still continuing.

From the Outside World's perspective, everything happened in the blink of an eye, brief and swift. By the time the Mors Thunder and lightning, the shifting winds and clouds, the Movement completely dissipated, a Slender girl's figure appeared in the empty venue.

"……"

"……"

Brief silence.

"Where is this? Is it Chaldea? Where is Mash Kyrielight?"

The summoned figure curiously examined the Surroundings, seemingly having the same beautiful misunderstanding as the previous Heroic Spirits. But this is also normal; after all, it was a Summoning performed by stealing the link from Fujimaru Ritsuka, borrowing this connection, so the Heroic Spirit Servants connected by this fate all more or less retained memories of encounters in the Singularities.

The one summoned now is naturally the same.

Following this karmic connection, he assumed it was Chaldea or Fujimaru Ritsuka's side summoning him, and was rubbing his hands in anticipation of putting on a good show……

Too bad, the opposite side wasn't Chaldea, but a pig butchering scam.

Xia Zhi thought this without a shred of guilt, and also seriously sized up the Goddess opposite. Although the designated summoning was Ereshkigal, the one who came out was clearly Miss Ishtar.

She had a head of long black hair reaching her hips, and brilliant ruby-red pupils.

Draped over her body was strange attire flashing with golden light, white base embroidered with gold thread.

Her outfit was filled with asymmetrical beauty — her left arm wore a long sleeve, while her right leg was tightly wrapped in an over-knee stocking. Be it the hair ornaments on her long hair, the rings on her arms, the earrings by her ears, or the anklets on her barefoot ankles, every single one was made of gold, shining brilliantly.

— One could say her whole person, from head to toe, was flashing with golden light.

Yet strangely, despite all this, she did not give off a vulgar feeling; her temperament still appeared noble and harmonious, as if born to be so, like stars in the heavens, brilliant and eternal.

Xia Zhi also couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder.

Clearly it was Tohsaka's face and Tohsaka's figure, even that barren chest was exactly the same, but this one was simply the Beauty Manifestation.

The next moment——

"Huh? How unpleasant, were you thinking something impolite?"

At this time, the Goddess opposite also couldn't help but frown, staring at him with a suspicious look. She just now suddenly felt a chill, as if she had suffered some kind of slander from the soul level.

"No."

Facing the Goddess's questioning, the youth decisively denied it outright, and simultaneously without leaving a trace began to explain:

"May I ask if you are Goddess Ishtar? In Mesopotamian mythology, the goddess symbolizing beauty and harvest, as well as battle?"

"Of course!"

Ishtar lifted her head with a proud, smug look, and incidentally lightly flicked her hair.

"Good then, looks like the summoning really succeeded…… only, this isn't some Chaldea, but Londinium, Goddess." Xia Zhi nodded knowingly.

Silently, a save file load was completed.

Receiving information transmitted from the future, knowing this Goddess was also a Goddess of Beauty, possessing extremely high charm resistance.

He also decisively changed strategy, chose another option; the concept of charm is very broad, related methods are aplenty, even without using his own ability he could just as easily manipulate the other party.

"Hah? Londinium? Not Chaldea?"

Ishtar immediately knitted her brows: "How could this be, I clearly felt a familiar aura, that's why I…… hmm, could it be I made a mistake?"

"This I'm also not clear on." Xia Zhi said without changing expression, "Perhaps because this world's spacetime realm is quite ambiguous? Strictly speaking, history's Mors Timeline has already been completely disrupted……"

"Hmm, not impossible——"

Ishtar only felt a headache; she originally thought she was coming over to cameo for an acquaintance, that's why she was summoned so smoothly, otherwise, as a Divine Spirit she could actively refuse the summoning.

The current situation made her instantly lose interest, and she decisively wanted to pack up and run.

"Since you've come, make yourself at home; regardless, since my summoning has already succeeded, and Goddess Ishtar has already graciously descended to this world, why not come discuss cooperation matters?"

The youth opposite was calm and composed, not a trace of fear or panic from facing a Goddess, not even a few points of tension, speaking quite leisurely: "I've prepared for this for a long time, and am confident I have sufficient sincerity."

While saying this, he waved a hand, decisively issuing a command: "Men, bring them up——"

"Listen, you're a decent Magician, ordinary people don't have your guts." Ishtar clearly had little interest; although she praised a sentence, her complexion visibly turned cold, "But I have no interest in ordinary people, and don't plan to form any Contract with you, so put away your unnecessary enthusiasm and sin…… sin-sin-sin…… sincerity……"

Towards the end, the Goddess's voice suddenly rapidly grew quieter.

Even the last few syllables slowly drifted out under inertia.

"……"

"……"

She stared dumbfounded as the large gates not far away suddenly opened, a line of people filed in carrying large box after large box, placing them on the ground with dull thuds. The boxes were also rapidly opened one by one as they spoke, the brilliant luster of treasures inside instantly bursting forth — gold, jade, and all kinds of precious treasures, reflecting the surrounding light and glittering.

As if rehearsed beforehand, several hundred large boxes had already appeared in this space in the blink of an eye.

For a moment.

The entire empty venue seemed to have become jeweled and splendid, glittering with gold and jade.

This is absolutely no exaggeration; just this astonishing quantity of treasure, if poured out directly, could absolutely pile up a small mountain…… and outside people keep carrying large boxes, continuing to walk in.

"Is that so? To actually be this decisive——"

At this time, that youth also seemed to have heard the Goddess's cold refusal, and lightly sighed.

"Then no helping it! Carry the stuff out!"

"Eh? What…… no, not that, wait…… wait! I…… I……"

Ishtar stared in shock, turned back, stiffly instinctively spoke to stop him, voice very dry.

Xia Zhi however was unmoved, tone extremely cruel: "Wait for what! Carry it all away, immediately disappear from before my eyes, not a single gemstone allowed to stay here!"

"Waaaaaaah——!!"

The Goddess instantly terrified, directly pounced over and grabbed his arm:

"Stop quick! Let's talk nicely…… Please! If you let them just disappear like this, I'll die! Really will die!!"

(Chapter End)