Chapter 238
Ishtar fell into deep thought.
She looked at how Gilgamesh spoke with her designated attendant. Although the latter still wore a sour face, he didn't utter a single sharp remark.
Was this still Gilgamesh?
She took a bite of the cake on her fork.
"Looking back at our journey, Miss Firefly can be considered the strongest person I've ever seen," Fujimaru Ritsuka said with a serious expression. "Although I encountered the mastermind behind the Incineration of Humanity in London, if I were to truly compare them... I feel he wouldn't be a match for Miss Firefly."
"Of course he wouldn't be a match," Xia Yu said casually upon hearing this. "As the First Beast holding the Principle of Compassion, his plan is indeed grand enough, but compared to Firefly's pure violence, it's a bit..."
The Herrscher of Flamescion couldn't defeat Firefly; the latter possessed planet-busting combat power after all. Unless Kiana upgraded to her planet-sized form, she really wouldn't have that kind of strength.
Of course, that form already represented Emanator-level combat power, which was an entirely different level.
"Wait, that person claiming to be Solomon is a Beast?" Suddenly hearing this explosive news, Fujimaru Ritsuka stood up straight in shock. "The First Beast holding the Principle of Compassion?!"
'Meaning, we have to face a Beast by ourselves at the very end?'
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the Kiana before her in shock and suspicion.
This style of casually revealing crucial information... Wait, sister, I just separated your identity from Miss Firefly's in my mind...
Are you two really not the same person?
"A Beast holding the Principle of Compassion, huh," Gilgamesh frowned upon hearing this. "Hmph, this information doesn't seem to be of any use to the current state of Uruk."
Goetia wasn't going to run over to Uruk anyway.
"Wait, Big Sister Kiana," Mash couldn't help but ask, "How do you know the identity of that person claiming to be Solomon?"
"Is it that hard to guess?" Xia Yu shrugged. "Of course it's because I've seen him with my own eyes."
"Sigh, actually Beasts are just like that, don't take them too seriously."
Although proper Beasts could threaten civilizations, they were basically at the same level as a Herrscher.
At most, their broken Authorities raised their ceiling, but a Herrscher also had her own Four-Core Greatsword.
If they really fought, Xia Yu wouldn't back down in the slightest.
Among the Beasts, Goetia was the most rule-breaking.
Of course, it wasn't because He Himself was exceptionally strong, but because the energy He commanded after completing the Incineration of Humanity was simply too massive.
Goetia was originally the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars, a system (Human Order Correction Formula) created by King Solomon, the progenitor of human Magecraft, to more effectively advance the correct principles.
On the premise of knowing how hopeless and ugly humans were, Solomon chose not to correct them and ultimately accepted death. After Solomon's death, the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars sealed inside his corpse gave birth to independent thoughts and falsely claimed to be Solomon.
Thus, Goetia resumed his activities by nesting within the remains of King Solomon, but his way of existence was trapped in a dilemma. Although they declared that humans had no value, as Demon Gods, they could not exist unless they were employed by humans.
Even though they were higher-dimensional lifeforms, they felt deeply humiliated by being placed beneath humans—the greatest waste in the universe. Unwilling to accept this contradiction and dishonesty, Goetia took the initiative to launch a self-transformation. They came to a conclusion, which was to reset their purpose of serving humanity.
They would absolutely prove themselves to be the highest existence on this planet, reaching the pinnacle that even Solomon failed to reach—namely, starting the grand undertaking of becoming a god.
Goetia did not agree with Solomon. They concluded that humanity and the future had no value, fearing the end of annihilation. They began to advance the project of turning all of humanity into energy.
Goetia wanted to trace that life back 4.6 billion years before it was born on this planet, personally experiencing the exact moment the "celestial body" was born in this realm, and claim all the energy at that time for Himself. In other words, to make Himself a "new celestial body" and create a new world without death.
Then Goetia—the existence claiming to be the King of Mages, Solomon—began his undertaking. To create Singularities that would throw history into chaos, he created Holy Grails and placed the Magi he designed (turning them into Demon Gods through Goetia's will) as descendants, mingling them into Human History to create seven detonating points.
This caused it to fall apart completely. Although it wiped out all of humanity, these became the reasons for the collapse of the human foundation in various eras. From the moment this attempt was established, the future of humanity after 2016 was eliminated.
Just how strong was Goetia after completing the Incineration of Humanity?
His Third Noble Phantasm, Ars Almadel Salomonis, was an Anti-Human Order Noble Phantasm, the First Sin, a band of light announcing the end of humanity.
At first glance, it looked like a halo surrounding Earth, but it was actually a collection of hundreds of millions of light beams. Each beam possessed destructive power comparable to the A-rank Noble Phantasm, Excalibur.
Regrettably, nothing existed on Earth that could surpass the heat of this Noble Phantasm. Since it converted all of Human History into heat, as long as hundreds of millions of these light bands were gathered, accelerated, and converged, it could even accomplish time regression across a long span of years.
This halo alone was enough to cleanse the surface, sufficient to destroy a civilization that had not stepped off its mother planet. In terms of strength, He was stronger than an ordinary Herrscher, but not to the planet-busting extent of Firefly.
Goetia could rely on this energy to reverse time and space mainly because the Type-Moon universe had a special structure—that unavoidable Root.
If it were in other universes, although this energy would still be considerable, it would absolutely never reach the point of being able to reverse time and space.
"So, have you fought against a Beast?" Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at Xia Yu curiously.
"Me? No," Xia Yu shook her head. "Beasts aren't exactly common cabbage!"
As she stroked the Beast of Comparison in her arms, she said righteously, "That's not something you can just find anywhere. I really haven't fought a Beast."
"But I do have similar experiences."
"Oh? What kind of experiences?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked curiously.
Ishtar also cast her gaze over.
"Experiences fighting Herrschers," Xia Yu smiled and said. "In my homeland, there exists a disaster known as the Honkai."
"It coexists with civilization. The more developed a civilization is, the more terrifying the disaster brought by the Honkai becomes. Honkai Energy will erode everyone's body; basically, those without antibodies are wiped out into ashes, and those with a tiny bit of antibodies are turned into mindless zombies."
"And the gathering of Honkai Energy will give rise to monsters unique to the Honkai, Honkai Beasts."
"In ancient times, like Mesopotamia's current point in time, the strength of Honkai Beasts could basically be handled by mortal hunters."
"But in modern times, the civilizational level underwent a leap, and the Honkai disasters became larger and larger. In the Second Great Honkai Eruption, which is closely related to me, the battle between humans and the Honkai practically destroyed the entire Siberia."
Xia Yu felt a bit melancholy. "The Third Great Honkai Eruption was artificially triggered, and its scale was controlled, so it only swallowed a single city."
"Then, there was the largest-scale Honkai disaster triggered by the Herrscher of the Void," Xia Yu sighed. "More than half of the Earth was deeply trapped within it."
"Of course, the most troublesome thing in a Honkai disaster isn't the Honkai Beasts, but the apostles of the Honkai—the Herrschers."
"When the instantaneous power at the moment a Honkai eruption breaks out reaches above 1000 HW, in the area of the disaster, there is a chance for an existence known as a 'Herrscher' to be born."
"Herrschers are called the proxies of God (the Honkai). They represent the sublimation of the human life level. Humans chosen to become Herrschers possess abilities that humans cannot possibly possess; it is the breakdown of reality."
"A Herrscher's Authority boils down to turning mind-boggling, non-existent phenomena into reality. It is the ultimate manifestation of certain physical laws."
"For example, me, the Herrscher of Flamescion," Xia Yu stretched out her hand, and a ball of fire ignited from it. "How about it, are you scared hearing my identity as this ultimate big villain?"
"Scared? No," hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka shook her head. She naturally reached out to hug Xia Yu's arm, shaking it as she threw a tantrum, "Big Sister Kiana is a good person and wouldn't hurt us, right?"
"Hmm? You're that certain?" Xia Yu asked with a half-smile.
"Of course!" Fujimaru Ritsuka blinked and said, "What kind of bad person could Big Sister Firefly's friend be?"
"Your standard..." The corner of Xia Yu's mouth twitched upon hearing this.
Beside her, Ishtar narrowed her eyes.
"But a Herrscher really is a big villain."
"It's just the trope where the enemy and the ally share the same origin," Fujimaru Ritsuka said very calmly. "It's not like I haven't seen it before."
Mainly, if she really harbored malice, what could she herself even do?
"You sure accept things quickly," Xia Yu gave a dumbfounded laugh.
"I have no choice," Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed. "Along the way, if I didn't have this kind of big heart, I would have collapsed halfway."
"Sounds like you, a Herrscher, aren't much weaker than a Beast," just then, Ishtar said faintly. "You're truly amazing, Kiana."
"You flatter me, you flatter me," hearing this, Xia Yu smiled and nodded, seemingly not catching her underlying meaning. "I should be able to fight a normal Beast."
As for what was abnormal...
One only needed to look up to know—the highly eye-catching, super energy-gathering ring in the sky.
Goetia's reliance, His Third Noble Phantasm.
If it really came to a life-and-death struggle, even if she unleashed the Herrscher Gems inside her greatsword, she couldn't say she would definitely win.
There were still countless geniuses in this world.
"So, are you an enemy of the Human Order?" Just then, Anna, who had been silently eating cake on the side, suddenly spoke up and asked.
"Not really," Xia Yu scratched her head. "Mainly, I don't have any grudge against the Human Order."
"But you're a Herrscher," Anna raised her head to look at her. "Aren't Herrschers the enemies of humanity?"
"I'm also a Valkyrie at the same time," Xia Yu said casually. "Valkyries are warriors specifically trained to fight against Honkai disasters."
"Then your identity sure is complicated enough," the corner of Fujimaru Ritsuka's mouth twitched upon hearing this.
It really was an origin shared between enemy and ally!
"Humans won't think that way," Anna pulled down the hood on her head. "You are an anomaly, and that's enough reason to subjugate you."
"Even if I'm super strong?" Xia Yu grew interested.
"Yes," Anna nodded. "Humans are accustomed to using this kind of trick."
Previously, she wasn't very willing to interact with the other party, mainly because the other party was too mysterious and powerful.
But now, after hearing about the Herrscher matter, Anna somehow suddenly felt a slight sense of identification.
Was it because of her past experience on the Shapeless Isle?
Her, who clearly just wanted to stay huddled at home, was treated as prey by people who wanted to become heroes... They invaded her home, relying on the treasures bestowed by the gods to flaunt their power and engage in wanton slaughter, with absolutely no reason to speak of.
And the person before her...
"You're right," Xia Yu nodded. "Humans... doesn't it really hurt to intrigue against each other every single day..."
"Those people enjoy it," Anna lowered her head and bit into a piece of cake. "They're all scum!"
"Right, they're all scum!" Xia Yu immediately chimed in upon hearing this.
"Sigh, you're so small," she looked down at Anna. "Could it be that your nutrition didn't keep up when you were young?"
"How can that be okay? No matter how busy you are, you must remember to eat on time."
"Heroic Spirits don't grow old," Anna explained.
"Alright then," Xia Yu reached out to pat her head. "Do you like eating cake?"
"...Mhm," Anna answered in a low voice.
"Then I'll make more next time."
Hearing this, Anna raised her head to look at her.
'She's also a monster... a monster even stronger than me...'
'Perhaps... sometimes monsters should just stay with monsters.'
For some reason, Xia Yu felt that Anna beside her suddenly began to grow close to her.
"Are you finished eating?"
Just then, a voice came from beside her.
"If you're finished eating, we should head back to the temple," Ishtar stared tightly at Xia Yu, deeply afraid she would say no.
"Is that so?" Hearing this, Xia Yu looked up out of the window. The sun was indeed about to set, and the crimson evening glow was indeed vivid.
"Alright, let's go then," she agreed very readily.
Ishtar stood straight up, her hand tightly gripping Xia Yu's right arm. "Let's go, we're heading back to the temple."
After speaking, she soared straight into the sky, Maanna accelerating to top speed...
"You're truly amazing, Lady Kiana," above the sky, Ishtar bit her lip. "To think you could quietly give them the leverage in my hands."
"There's just one thing you have to explain to me," she forced a stiff face and said, "Just how strong are you?"
"Emmm... let's put it this way," hearing this, Ishtar leaned right over. "The consumption from killing a few hundred more demonic beasts isn't quite fair to me."
"Then why were you still captured by me?" Ishtar completely lost her composure.
"Also, as a Herrscher comparable to a Beast, are you really that powerful?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Hearing this, she was also a bit nitpicky. "What else?"
"Let's have a fight! Kiana."
"Who told my heart to feel so uneasy!"
"Are you sure?" Hearing this, Xia Yu was stunned for a moment, then said, "Allow me to speak frankly, you might not be able to beat me."
"Whether I can beat you... we'll have to try to find out!"
★ ★ ★
T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me.
★ ★ ★
Shilling time!
Members of my [email protected]/quickinquickout can read advanced chapters on quick-tl(dot)com—and even customize translated terms to match their preferred names and terminology!