Chapter 209

Actually.

Xia Zhi's originally intended summoning target was actually Ereshkigal.

That mistress of the Underworld, ruler of death and the Undead, was the SSR he wanted to designate for precise extraction.

Because although the title sounds terrifying, that Goddess seems to be the one who is truly pure and cute. Especially according to Chaldea's Master Lady, that Goddess cannot hide her side of being very good at taking care of others; she is simply an angel of the Underworld.

So easy to deceive... cough cough, such a good Goddess, of course she is very suitable as a negotiation target; no matter how you look at it, the priority is definitely higher than Ishtar's.

Especially since the latter is the Goddess of Beauty, possessing an Authority of the same type as the suspected source of Charm Power, and has extremely high resistance to Charm, Ereshkigal is naturally the better choice.

However, the two Goddesses are ultimately One Body, different aspects of a single pillar of god.

Just like how it's impossible to designate only one of them for Summoning, which face the Goddess shows when summoned also depends entirely on herself.

The result was designating Ereshkigal for summoning, but Ishtar came out instead... however, the problem isn't big; Xia Zhi also doesn't feel there's any obvious increase in difficulty in dealing with the Goddess.

How to put it, it's nothing more than changing from the degree of "pure white giving" to the degree of "very easy to manipulate."

What difficulty could there be.

Considering the summoning target is a Pseudo-Servant, that is, an existence possessed by a Heroic Spirit and gaining power, the premise requires the Heroic Spirit to find a highly compatible Human as a Vessel for possession.

—And Ishtar's possession target is Miss Tohsaka, which shows Miss Tohsaka has high compatibility with Ishtar...

—If one were to reverse it, it can also be said that Ishtar and Miss Tohsaka have similar Wavelengths...

In that case, isn't this weakness obvious at a glance? Even the two people are this similar, their weaknesses might overlap too. Originally one person's weakness, now it's two people's weakness; the kind where finding the Opportunity for one critical hit deals double damage.

So Xia Zhi almost immediately formulated a specialized anti-Ishtar Strategy, and achieved very good results; his first move hit the Goddess's Limit. Just a simple clash, and Ishtar was defeated, almost routed.

"W-wait! Let's talk this out properly..."

The Goddess tightly grabbed Xia Zhi's arm, almost bursting into tears; it was clear she was truly heartbroken.

"There's no need for this, let's talk properly..."

After all, watching those people move with extreme speed to close the Large Box's lid, ruthlessly covering the beautiful light of the treasures, then preparing to cruelly carry all the boxes away, far from this space, not leaving a single gem for herself — this was undoubtedly the greatest punishment for Ishtar, and the most excruciating torture.

Facing this cold scene—

She felt her heart shattering bit by bit.

Why! Why are there such cold-hearted people!

In the moment she couldn't React, he dominantly displayed his financial power; immediately after, in the moment she couldn't React, he was about to take away all the displayed treasures... and most importantly, that wasn't just a simple display, it was Preparation to give her as sincerity! It seemed if she had been more straightforward then, she could have happily accepted it directly!

But life is unpredictable; similarly, in the moment she fundamentally couldn't React, this easily obtainable massive treasure slipped through her fingers!

—Pain!

—It really hurts too much!

The Goddess's Defense Art was directly broken through; this Sudden occurrence was more powerful than any Charm effect.

It was simply a Spiritual Impact specialized for her.

Undoubtedly, due to the Vessel's influence, overlapping with the Main Body's interests and hobbies, causing a one-plus-one-greater-than-two effect, so Ishtar, who already liked treasures, is now hopelessly fond of treasures.

Even if just flying over from the sky, happening to see a gold nugget on the ground, she would definitely be unable to bear not coming down to pick it up.

It can be said, in this aspect involving treasures, she completely lacks any bit of the Elegance and reserve a Goddess should have...

But she just can't help it—

Like a Dragon has the habit of taking shiny things back to its nest.

Like the Chaotic Impulse brought by Origin, an absolute nature that cannot be resisted.

And at this moment, as the last Large Box in her Vision was also ruthlessly closed, accompanied by that dull collision sound, the last trace of pearl and jade light and Aura also disappeared. Her crimson beautiful pupils seemed to dim along with it, leaving only emptiness, simply like a Salty Fish that lost its dreams.

And at this time, Xia Zhi also felt the Paving was about enough.

The brewed emotions should also be sufficient.

Continuing to apply pressure might be Counterproductive, letting the situation reverse.

He deeply knew the principle of "too much is as bad as too little," that to manipulate someone one must precisely grasp the measure, not giving the other party a chance to calm down and think, must guide the other party to completely follow his own rhythm. If this greedy Goddess were to recover from the Unexpected heartbreak, she might remember there are other Options... after all, in Mythology, the Gods all suffered deeply from her, being plundered was common.

Although from the current view, she isn't truly Ishtar, nor truly Rin Tohsaka, but a hybrid of both.

Because of possessing a Human with fate tied to the Holy Grail War and similar Wavelength, causing the Cognition and personalities of god and human to mutually influence each other, mixed together into a brand new individual.

So the Goddess before him both inherits and further amplifies Rin Tohsaka's attributes like "greedy," "Tsundere," etc., and inevitably is influenced by Rin Tohsaka's kind personality, lacking the cruelty and arrogance of the Divine Rank prototype.

As if cruelty was suppressed deep down, only the good parts expressed outwardly.

While thinking this, he decisively spoke to stop—

"Then let's wait a moment..."

And the Mors Team carrying the boxes also immediately stopped, not continuing to move, strictly obeying orders.

"...!!"

Seeing the treasures not immediately taken away, Ishtar's already empty eyes instantly burst with brilliance, like a dying person seeing the last straw of hope.

Immediately after, the youth also seemed to turn his head in some Doubt, examining the Divine Spirit Servant with the appearance of a black Long Straight Hair girl, as if Ignorantly asking: "What's wrong, didn't Goddess Ishtar just say to put away this meaningless sincerity?"

"..."

"..."

"H-how could it be meaningless!"

Ishtar first gave a start, but immediately reacted; she struggled to move her reluctant Gaze away from those Large Boxes, turned her head to look at him while squeezing out her Brightest smile, attempting to salvage: "Your sincerity is ve-very good! I actually really really like it... that's right, just like that, leave it, no need to put it away!"

"But, didn't Goddess Ishtar just say you didn't intend to form a Contract with me?"

The youth's Attitude was noncommittal, continuing to ask carelessly.

"How could that be! You are the only Master I acknowledge!"

Ishtar wore a "you're the only card I want" Expression, shaking her head extremely seriously and saying—

"From the first time I saw you, I knew we were the best partners! Those words were absolutely not said by me, you must have misheard or someone else was talking nonsense! Don't take it to heart!"

She decisively refused to admit she had just said such words; anyway, at this time she absolutely could not acknowledge it.

After all, seizing on this point to explain is the same as seizing on this point and not letting go; only turning the page as quickly as possible is the right way.

"But, Goddess Ishtar, didn't you just say you have no interest in ordinary people?"

The young man asked again with a smile.

"How could that be! You're not an ordinary person!" The girl also shook her head rapidly again, her head shaking like a rattle-drum, her long black hair swaying continuously behind her, "One look and you're a rich person——ah no, I mean, one look and you're a very decent Magician, didn't I just say so, ordinary people don't have the guts to come like you do."

"Goddess Ishtar, you must not force yourself……"

"Not forcing, not forcing at all, these are words of justice……"

"……"

"……"

"Then that's good——"

Xia Zhi looked straight at her for a good while, then laughed heartily, raised his hand and snapped his fingers with a *pa*: "Bring them all up."

This one sentence simply made Ishtar's heart bloom with joy, like hearing celestial music; she looked excitedly at those large boxes being carried in again, and even those outside were successively carried into this semi-enclosed area.

The box lids were opened neatly and uniformly at the same time, the bursting radiance of pearls and jewels making the Goddess's heart intoxicated.

And what submerged her completely in happiness was the young man opposite casually saying another sentence: "This is just a deposit showing a little sincerity; after signing the formal contract, Goddess Ishtar will see even more of my sincerity, and every year at that. There's also a monthly spending card subsidy, rice flour grain oil distributed on holidays, oh right, and the five insurances and one fund……"

He was still rambling on, saying this is a legitimate workplace, rules and systems are very complete, employee benefits absolutely cannot be deducted.

Although the art style of those later words was very strange, Ishtar could no longer care about so much; her whole person was already so happy she couldn't think.

——There will be even more sincerity!

——And every year at that!

What kind of divine treatment is this? Her breathing grew rapid, she only felt a strong sense of unreality, a trance before her eyes; this person is simply too domineering, compared to him, that King of Heroes is like some backwater local tyrant.

Mm! Wait! Does such a domineering person really exist?

You know, Gilgamesh is the king who claims to have collected all the world's treasures! But even he wouldn't dare make such a promise!

She suddenly thought of this point, and also abruptly forced herself to calm down from the excitement, asking apprehensively: "Wait! Is it really true there are this many treasures? It wouldn't be a trick on me, would it!"

"How could it be! This King possesses the four seas, this world is all mine……and Vivian's." Xia Zhi waved his hand magnanimously, "This bit of treasure is nothing at all, moreover what I said is salary settled yearly, whether it's a trick or not, you'll know when you see it then, right?"

Even if Gilgamesh collected all the world's treasures, under normal circumstances that's still a fixed total amount.

But the treasures here have no fixed total amount at all, they can be increased on demand——after all, Fairies are Earth's Terminals, natural Consumables, able to reclaim land from the sea, and also able to evolve the various resources within the world.

He doesn't even need to use artificial synthesis technology, using synthetic gems or the like to deceive the Goddess; guaranteed to provide all purely natural, unpolluted, absolutely natural crystals, which even by Divine Spirit standards wouldn't be found problematic.

"Al-also……"

Ishtar turned the thought over and felt it was indeed the case.

Even if really tricked, it's just a year's matter, but she's already received this much remuneration, no matter how you look at it she's not the losing side!

"Mm, that's not right——"

At this time, Xia Zhi suddenly frowned, looking like he thought of something.

"You just now seemed to also say something about Mash Kyrielight or the like; if by chance you encounter her later, wouldn't that be very unsafe? How about we forget this matter for now, I need to consider carefully before replying, let's not sign the contract for now……"

"How can that be!!"

Ishtar completely couldn't accept this turn of events, hurriedly clarified with a straight face:

"There's absolutely no such thing, what Mash Kyrielight? Don't know her, completely don't know her……Master, you must believe me, I……I……I am loyal beyond words!"

——————

——————

Wales Forest.

Blazing firelight everywhere, the primordial forest grown for thousands of years almost half destroyed by fire at this moment.

Scorching high temperature emitting astonishing heat, waves of heat waves stirring hot winds in the air, making people stuffy and breathless, difficult to breathe.

"No lurking danger factors discovered, the arsonist should have already left, traces all wiped clean." Medusa concluded coldly, simultaneously furrowing her brows imperceptibly, "And no local Fairies discovered either, no living ones and no corpses left behind, so……the attackers should have come for them?"

In such a short time, the Fairies' corpses wouldn't yet have returned to heaven and earth, become part of the natural cycle.

Since that's the case, the only possibility is they were all captured and transferred by the attackers……but in this forest, only some weak Fairies live, weaklings driven out by other Fairies, what significance could kidnapping them have?

"Mm, cannot relax vigilance, Rider."

The red-haired, orange-eyed girl looked around somewhat uneasily, "It feels like someone is watching us——"

Her words hadn't finished falling.

From the burning forest not far away, came a rustling sound.

The cold beauty wearing an eye patch instantly became vigilant, directly drew her weapon, shielding the Proxy Master in front of her, only immediately after, a bedraggled figure walked out from that direction.

"Ah, it's you guys……"

A Fairy appeared, seeing the two, immediately let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Finally support has come, though a bit late."

"Oberon? Why are you here?" Fujimaru Ritsuka recognized the other party, couldn't help but be somewhat doubtful.

"I took a mission, responsible for supervising Transmission Gate construction in various places, happened to be nearby too……" Oberon explained with a troubled face, "Autumn Forest……I mean, this Wales Forest's Transmission Gate, was just personally delivered and installed by me with Her Majesty's sub-mirror not long ago, didn't expect such a thing to suddenly happen……"

"The Transmission Gate is already destroyed, Her Majesty's sub-mirror also destroyed, the attackers moved very fast, might be an insider, otherwise wouldn't locate the key so precisely, but now not a single trace left……"

Speaking here, he sighed, spread his hands with a helpless face, simultaneously also looked across:

"Miss Baiye, are you here to provide support?"

"We just have fast legs, came ahead to reconnoiter……" Fujimaru Ritsuka shook her head.

Miss Baiye is naturally her Designated Title.

This is to avoid leaving history contradictory to later generations, so Xia Zhi previously made a well-meaning suggestion, letting her take a fake name for activities, not expose her true name.

She indeed adopted this suggestion, has become accustomed to hiding by now, and doesn't plan to let more unnecessary people know her true identity.

The fake name was also helped chosen by Xia Zhi, called——"Shiraye Baiye".

Although she always felt the other party seemed to have some inexplicable Bad Taste at the time, the name appeared quite normal with no particular deep meaning, so the girl continued using it to this day without Considering a change.

(Chapter End)