Chapter 91: I Will Reveal the Whole Truth to You!
The war between the Ishtar faction and the Freya faction was approaching.
Recently, the entire Windmoon Street vaguely carried the scent of gunpowder.
Undoubtedly, it was the goddess Ishtar preparing for confrontation with the Freya faction.
On the other side, Freya also seemed to have noticed Ishtar's movements.
Although for Heith's safety, Freya did not want to take the initiative out of fear of the hostage being harmed, if Ishtar openly caused trouble, Freya obviously could not avoid it and would collide head-on with the Ishtar faction.
As a result, the clash between these two great factions was about to break out, and Windmoon Street was about to completely turn into a battlefield for factional conflict.
Regarding this war that should never have happened, Shirou's goal was naturally to prevent everything from happening.
Although it was extremely difficult to stop all this, he had now locked onto an important target: Daedalus Street.
If his guess was correct, the Dark Faction had used Daedalus Street to execute the trick of "making Heith vanish from the world," which led to the outbreak of conflict between the Ishtar faction and the Freya faction.
However, although Shirou was now only one step away from revealing the truth, that final step was indeed very difficult.
After all, for Shirou now, the most lacking thing was time.
The war between the Ishtar faction and the Freya faction could happen at any time. If he failed to find evidence proving the Dark Faction's actions before the war began, even if everything was proven afterward, the war would still cause huge casualties.
You could say that if Shirou found the truth even one minute earlier, countless innocent lives could be saved.
For that reason, Shirou shortened his investigation time as much as possible, no longer fighting alone, but borrowing every possible force he could.
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Early the next morning. At the intersection of Daedalus Street.
Shirou had already passed the information to all possible contacts and patiently waited for reinforcements to arrive.
Before long, members of the Hestia faction and the Takemikazuchi faction appeared before him.
The members of these two factions were undoubtedly called by Shirou to investigate Daedalus Street.
Regarding Shirou's request, the Hestia faction needed no more explanation; Bell and Lili unquestionably were willing to act to help Shirou.
The Takemikazuchi faction, after Shirou provided information about Haruhime and explained that everything he was doing now was to save Haruhime, also chose to fully support Shirou.
It is worth mentioning that the Takemikazuchi faction's chief god, Takemikazuchi himself, personally came here after hearing Shirou's request to lend a hand.
"As a god, is it okay for you to act like this?" Shirou looked at Takemikazuchi in confusion.
"Don't worry, I am the god of war." Takemikazuchi confidently patted his chest, "Using my divine power, even against level 4 or 5 adventurers, I can hold my own."
"Yes, the chief god really is very strong."
Yamato Mikoto and other members of the Takemikazuchi faction showed strong agreement with Takemikazuchi's words, which sufficiently proved his formidable combat ability.
"That's really good." Regarding the investigation of Daedalus Street, what worried Shirou most was not whether the investigation would proceed smoothly, but fearing danger for the members of the Hestia and Takemikazuchi factions.
After all, he alone could not protect everyone; if the Dark Faction sent many members to obstruct them, heavy casualties could easily result.
But now knowing that Takemikazuchi, as the god of war, could fight on equal footing against high-level adventurers, Shirou was finally able to feel at ease.
At least Takemikazuchi could help shoulder a large part of the pressure.
"In that case, let's split into two groups, with Takemikazuchi and me each leading a team to investigate Daedalus Street."
Shirou quietly said, dividing forces. Members of the Hestia and Takemikazuchi factions naturally had no objections.
"By the way, what exactly are we investigating?" Takemikazuchi curiously asked Shirou, "You know how chaotic and complicated Daedalus Street is. Without a clear goal, we'd just get lost endlessly in this maze-like environment."
"Yeah, I'm very clear on that." Shirou nodded, "So I've prepared markers for everyone to navigate Daedalus Street, and I hope you can clearly draw the routes you walk on paper."
"Draw route maps?" Though a little confused by Shirou's request, members of the Hestia and Takemikazuchi factions eventually nodded in agreement.
Based on their trust in Shirou, they did not question his reasons and quickly began exploring Daedalus Street with the markers, drawing maps of the routes.
Meanwhile, Shirou himself also participated in exploring Daedalus Street. Unlike others who simply followed the paths, he repeatedly input the position of Windmoon Street into the markers, and repeatedly entered Daedalus Street, taking various detours to reach Windmoon Street.
Outsiders could not understand what Shirou was actually doing.
But the more Shirou repeated this, the more he realized the truth was just as he imagined.
Because although he entered Daedalus Street from the same position each time, the route he took to Windmoon Street was almost always different.
This might be a defect of the markers themselves, or because the terrain of Daedalus Street was too complex, causing any method of orientation to lose effect.
But in any case, after realizing that the route from Daedalus Street to Windmoon Street kept changing, Shirou had completely seen through the Dark Faction's trick of making Heith vanish from the world.
What he needed to do next was simply to quickly find Heith herself, rescue her, and thus prevent the war between the Ishtar and Freya factions.
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The smoke of war covered Windmoon Street.
Goddess Ishtar looked out from the top of the palace at the street she had built with her own hands, feeling deeply conflicted.
If she could choose, she certainly would not want her years of effort to go up in flames, dragging everyone in the street into the contradiction between her and Freya through a meaningless war.
However, deep down, Ishtar actually desired this war.
Not for anything else, but simply to show Freya her jealousy and anger.
Yes, Ishtar had been hostile to Freya for a long time. Both as goddesses of beauty, they had similar identities, similar powers, and similar status, and there shouldn't have been a big gap between them.
But after coming to the lower world, Freya was stronger than her in every way.
Whether it was Freya's appeal to male gods, the strength of the faction she built, or simply her character as a deity, Freya was completely above Ishtar.
Both were goddesses of beauty, so their powers should be similar, but in the end, Freya stood at the very top of the Babel Tower, possessing the highest power and status in the lower world, while Ishtar could only stay here in this stinky gutter-like Windmoon Street as the leader of a prostitute group, looked down upon by her rival.
Gradually, Ishtar's original competitiveness and rivalry toward Freya turned into an indelible jealousy after one defeat after another.
She envied Freya, a fellow beauty goddess, envied the things Freya had that she did not.
Therefore, if possible, Ishtar would undoubtedly abandon everything to take revenge on Freya. For that, she was willing to drag everything she created, even Windmoon Street, into the flames of war.
However, was that truly how she felt deep down?
Though her status and power were lower than Freya's, and what she had was far less than Freya's, would things really change just because of this difference?
Windmoon Street was something Ishtar built with her own hands. Did she truly have no feelings for it, and would she just abandon it casually?
Regarding these questions, even Ishtar herself did not know all the answers.
But now, there was no turning back. The only thing she could do was to bet everything on this war, knowing it was destined to be difficult to win.
"Is everyone here?" As soon as she learned that the Freya faction had made a move, the beauty goddess Ishtar summoned all her subordinates to assemble at the palace gates.
However, although all the prostitutes should have been gathered, in the end two people were missing from the ranks.
"Where are Phryne and Aisha?" When Ishtar asked, the prostitutes looked at each other in confusion, clearly not expecting those two to disappear.
Most importantly, Phryne, as a level 5, and Aisha, as a level 4, were the core strength of the Ishtar faction, especially Phryne, who was the strongest in the faction.
If she disappeared, the Ishtar faction would have no possibility of standing against the Freya faction.
"Damn it." Ishtar looked around, and after realizing that Phryne and Aisha had truly disappeared, she bit her lip and said, "Forget about those two for now. Hurry and bring Haruhime here! We must quickly use Haruhime's secret technique to raise the level of our entire clan!"
"Yes!"
At Ishtar's words, the members of the clan immediately went to the separate pavilion where Haruhime was.
However, after a while, a prostitute from Ishtar's clan rushed over in a panic, shouting, "Bad news, Lady Ishtar! That Aisha has betrayed us. She took Haruhime away!"
"What?!"
At this moment, Ishtar truly experienced what it meant when one disaster followed another.
Putting aside Phryne's disappearance as an Iv.5 for now, Haruhime was the key for Ishtar's clan to resist the Freya clan.
For Aisha to take her away now meant that Ishtar's clan would completely lose the ability to stand against the Freya clan.
At this point, it was impossible for them to resist the Freya clan.
In fact, it really was impossible.
While chaos engulfed Ishtar's clan internally, the members of the Freya clan advanced like a battering ram into the Windmoon Street, rushing straight toward the palace where Ishtar was.
Because the Freya clan had multiple Iv.5s and Iv.6s, and their strongest—"The King" Ottar—was even the only Iv.7 within Orario.
With Ishtar's clan having lost Phryne and Haruhime, they had practically no defense ability and were easily overrun by Freya, who reached their headquarters effortlessly.
"Looks like everything is over."
As Ishtar's heart fell into chaos, suffering over the destruction of her painstaking work without any resistance, Freya's voice slowly sounded from a distance in the room.
Seeming confident enough in her power, Freya came here alone without any escort from her clan.
She looked at Ishtar with curiosity, as if she found it hard to understand Ishtar's attempt to resist her.
After all, destroying Ishtar's clan was far too easy for the Freya clan, like toppling a row of dominoes with a casual push.
"..."
Seeing the other goddess of beauty in this labyrinth city besides herself, Ishtar's expression looked tired or perhaps melancholic.
She had once thought Freya would be a worthy opponent, but only when they truly met did she realize the huge gap between them.
"Lady Ishtar, be careful!"
Members of Ishtar's clan panicked at Freya's arrival and hurriedly tried to block her.
Ishtar quickly said, "Stop! Don't get close to her!"
But Ishtar's warning was too late.
Faced with the attacks from Ishtar's clan members, Freya merely smiled lightly, tucked her silver hair behind her ear, and revealed a captivating smile.
Just seeing that smile caused every member of Ishtar's clan present to convulse and fall to their knees.
Regardless of gender, everyone lost the ability to resist in front of the charm power of the goddess Freya, collapsing helplessly.
"..."
Ishtar showed a jealous expression toward Freya's power.
Yes, besides the gap between the clans, what Ishtar envied most was clearly Freya's Authority.
Both were goddesses of beauty, but Ishtar had to rely on her physical body to stimulate desire in her targets to achieve her charm effect.
In contrast, Freya's charm was utterly unreasonable—as if merely displaying her own beauty was enough to seduce countless beings, surpassing Ishtar's charm.
This was undoubtedly the hardest fact for Ishtar to accept.
"Since the Gods' Assembly, we haven't met, Ishtar," Freya smiled at Ishtar. "Where is my member Heith? If you hand her over, I might spare your life and not send you back to the Celestial Realm."
"Freya, do you still want to toy with me at this point?!"
Ishtar waited for Freya, thinking she was only teasing her.
Freya quietly shook her head: "Alright, I knew you wouldn't say it. Then let us part ways here. After you die, I will interrogate your clan to get what I want."
"..."
Faced with Freya's calm words, Ishtar felt as if her throat was directly choked.
Although Freya's tone was composed, Ishtar sensed an unprecedented murderous intent.
This showed that the other party was undoubtedly serious.
Until this moment, Ishtar finally couldn't help but begin to doubt—
Did she really misunderstand? Was Freya truly attacking her clan just to rescue Heith?
But she knew nothing about Heith and had never even seen her appear on Windmoon Street.
The information from Freya's clan about Heith's disappearance on Windmoon Street seemed utterly unreasonable to Ishtar's clan.
While Ishtar was in inner turmoil, Freya steadily approached her step by step.
Under the influence of Freya's power, all the members of Ishtar's clan around had already been affected by the charm and stood blankly in place.
"Wa-wait!"
Fear finally rose in Ishtar's heart, and she called out.
But the clan was already defeated and their powers suppressed; she had no way to turn the tables.
At this point, she didn't even have time to regret; her heart was completely overwhelmed by fear and fallen into absolute chaos.
As the queen of Windmoon Street, her feelings shouldn't have been so weak, nor should she have shown any vulnerability at such a time.
But the reality was that she trembled all over, and fear made her expression unable to maintain any stability.
If not for her overwhelming pride, she might have already begged Freya for mercy.
But begging was meaningless.
Everything, everything was meaningless.
Ishtar had deeply realized the tragic truth that she could never win against Freya from the start.
At the last moment, Ishtar inexplicably recalled a man she shouldn't have thought of— a man named Emiya Shirou.
On the first day she met him, Ishtar was also in a chaotic state like now.
Her powers were ineffective against the gambler, so she couldn't resist.
As a dignified goddess, unable to fight a few weak humans, that man appeared in front of her as if it were natural and saved her.
Though Ishtar didn't show much reaction at that moment, she felt a strange feeling she'd never had before.
Because of this, even though she knew the man was sent by Freya to investigate, she granted him permission to conduct investigations within Ishtar's clan.
Looking back, at that moment, Ishtar probably harbored some expectations for Emiya Shirou—hoping he could uncover the truth, stop the war, and save the unsalvageable herself.
However, deep down, Ishtar remained clear-headed; she did not believe a mere man could change reality or rescue her from such despair.
"Are you really unwilling to tell me Heith's whereabouts?"
Freya frowned as she looked at Ishtar's defeated face.
Ishtar had already given up on herself, but above all, she was unwilling to bow to Freya.
"Tch."
Freya finally lost her last bit of patience, slowly raising her right hand.
"Is that so? Then that's a pity. Die, Ishtar."
Under Freya's power, a bewitched prostitute held a long knife and approached Ishtar.
The sharp blade only needed to fall gently to end the life of a goddess.
At this moment when Ishtar was utterly despairing, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the room.
Immediately, a red-haired youth rushed in first and blocked the space between Ishtar and Freya.
"Emiya?"
Freya looked at Shirou in surprise, not understanding why he was here.
Shirou spoke decisively: "I have found Heith's whereabouts, and this matter was not orchestrated by Ishtar!"
"Are you sure?"
Freya gave Shirou a cold look, seemingly not expecting him to plead for Ishtar at such a moment. "If you lie, I will not spare you easily."
Shirou showed no hesitation and nodded firmly: "I have enough evidence to prove that Ishtar is not related to Heith's disappearance. This entire affair is just a conspiracy by the dark faction aiming to incite conflict between Ishtar's clan and Freya's clan!"
"..."
Shirou's sudden words left Freya silent, and even Ishtar showed an indescribable expression, not expecting Shirou to appear now and help her.
Shirou himself had no extra attitude and slowly said: "Believe me, Freya, Ishtar. Next, I will reveal the whole truth to you!!"